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“THE MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 





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Rev. SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE, M.D. 


“The Man With the Gentle Heart’’ 


Samuel Reynolds House 
of Siam 


Pioneer Medical Missionary 
1847-1876 


By 
GEORGE HAWS FELTUS, A.M., B.D. 


ILLUSTRATED 





New York CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LoNDON AND EDINBURGH 


Copyright, McMxxIv, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


Printed in the United States of America 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 


Preface 
() = « T, old-time title pages sought to present 


an epitome of the contents of the volume. 

While the name of Dr. House occupies the 
sole post of honour on this present title page, none 
would be more urgent than he to have that place 
shared by his wife, Harriet Pettit House, and her 
assistant, Arabella Anderson Noyes, and by their god- 
son, Boon Itt, whose achievements occupy a good 
share of the pages that follow. 

The essential material in this book has been drawn 
from the letters and journal of Dr. House, now for 
the first time available for the purpose. This ma- 
terial has been supplemented by correspondence with 
various individuals connected with the principal per- 
sons mentioned. The facts thus ascertained have been 
interpreted and amplified by the careful reading of 
nearly every book in English on Siamese subjects. 
For this reason, the narrative may claim to be fairly 
complete and authentic. 

Two reasons have prompted publication. One rea- 
son is to make accessible valuable historical materials. 
In the archives of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign 
Missions no records covering this period have been 
found other than the meagre references in the annual 
reports of the Board. The diary of Dr. House’s co- 
worker, Rev. Stephen Mattoon, was destroyed by fire; 
and, so far as is known, no other private records for 
those early years are in existence. The only primary 
source of information is the chapter, ‘“ History of 


5 


6 PREFACE 


Missions in Siam,” from the pen of Dr. House, in the 
volume Siam and Laos, in which his modesty has ob- 
scured the importance of his own labours. So this 
book is offered as a contribution to the history of the 
Church in Siam. 

The other reason is that the Church is entitled to 
the stimulus of the heroic examples of these godly 
people. Biographies, at best, do not appeal to a large 
circle of readers. Missionary biographies appeal to 
fewer still. However, a book that stimulates a few 
hundred workers in the vineyard of the Lord may 
effect more good in the long run than a book of great 
but passing popularity. I venture to believe that few 
will read the record of the life-work of Dr. and Mrs. 
House and the brief story of Boon Itt without being 
quickened by the example of their persistent faith, 
buoyant hopefulness, sublime trust and apostolic 
devotion. | 

Not the least worth while do I count it to be able to 
place this narrative in the hands of the young Church 
of Siam that she may transmit to the rising generation 
the story of “ THE MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART,” 

I acknowledge with appreciation the hearty en- 
couragement of friends to publish what my own 
inclination would have allowed to remain in private - 
manuscript. Also, I gladly state that publication 
would not have been possible without the financial 
assistance of friends who feel that the Church of 
today should have the privilege of knowing these 
noble characters, but who themselves prefer to remain 
unnamed, 

GrorcE Haws FE.LTus. 
The Manse, Waterford, N. Y. . 


Contents 


. A SuppEN PuuncE INto WorK. . . 9 
. © Tas MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART”. 23 
. Tae LittuE Cust, ATTACKS THE BIG 


NEGUS TALIA Wie eb tied ne eciy Maka a iI Oo 


. RELATIONS WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 47 


. LENGTHENING CorDS AND STRENGTHEN- 


TNGH SOARES als hu en tN eh Cota «ter OS 


. CHOLERA ComMkEs But THE Doctor Car- 


BARS ee a Nate rey RU Pham selon ty 


5 PROVIDENCE CHANGES Perit, INTo PRIvI- 


BBC ret iy Oe rae mg: an. WO Nad OL EE 


. Stam OpeNs HER Doors—Morké Work- 


BEST ONTER aware Wore tH) belie Pe TD SE 


. First THE Dawn, THEN THE DayLicut. 156 


. New Kinc, New Customs, NEw Fa- 


RMR AD pro CaM LN Re Re WN Is Sous NONE EM ANE A 


BME RiEt DEPITUTIOUSE Ulin Walls ential hoe 
. Home Acain, AND “ Home At Last”  . 221 
XIII. 


ML UAN 1 OON es LTR, canes poten os teak OO 


Illustrations 


FACING 


PAGE 
Rev. Samuel Reynolds House, M.D.......... . Title 
Sketch Map: of Siam (tiie. sade we ere ee 34 
Harriet /Pettit Tlousey is 0's).5 se soe ata etree 196 
Rey: Boon ‘Duan Booniitt:,....42).ae semana 230 


I 
A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 


R. SAMUEL R. HOUSE did not have time 
nor need to “hang out a shingle” upon 
reaching Bangkok. He had been there only 

a few days—not long enough to unpack his goods— 
when “a message came from some great man by 
three trusty servants that a servant whom he loved 
very much had got angry and had half cut his hand 
off with a sword.” 

This wound was not accidental but self-inflicted. 
It was a perverted result of a Siamese custom. In 
those days slavery prevailed in the country. Besides 
the war-captives who were cast into slavery, custom 
made it possible for any of the common people to be 
_ sold into servitude. If a man failed to pay a debt 
there were two alternatives before him, to be confined 
in one of the horrible jails until he discharged his 
obligation, or to sell himself or his wife or children 
into slavery to remain in that state until the accumu- 
lated value of the services should cancel the debt. 

Only too often these debts were the result of 
gambling, a vice that was universally prevalent under 
license of the government. If the debtor was fortu- 
nate enough, he might sell the chosen victim to some 
lord who was willing to accept the services in pledge 
for a loan with which to pay the actual creditor. 
Such an arrangement was not altogether without its 


9 


10 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


advantages, for many an improvident spendthrift had 
a comfortable living for himself and family assured 
by the better management of his lord. But once in 
servitude the victim was likely to be held in peonage 
indefinitely, because usury on the loan was liable to 
mount up faster than the value of services rendered. 

It will readily be imagined that a man so improvi- 
dent as to permit himself to fall into slavery would 
not be the most willing worker, and many would be 
the tricks of the lazy man to labour as little as pos- 
sible. A rather common scheme to avoid an unpleas- 
ant duty or merely to spite the over-lord was to go to 
the extreme of inflicting upon self a wound that 
would incapacitate from work. Such was the nature 
of this first surgical case to which Dr. House 
was called. 

The readiness with which this great man summoned 
a strange foreign doctor will be easily understood 
when it is known that for twelve years previous there 
had been an American physician in Bangkok. Since 
1835 Rev. Daniel B. Bradley, M.D., representing the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions (A B C F M), had been practising medicine 
and he had established a high reputation among all 
classes for western medicine and surgery. On ac- 
count of the recent death of his wife, Dr. Bradley, 
with his young children, had sailed for home only a 
few weeks before the arrival of the new missionary. 

When Dr. House set out for Siam he knew that 
Dr. Bradley was there and, having had no practical 
experience in his profession before leaving home, he 
looked forward to beginning his labours in associ- 
ation with one who not only was a skilled practitioner 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 11 


but who also knew the pathological conditions of the 
Siamese. When, upon arrival, Dr. House discovered 
that Dr. Bradley had withdrawn he felt some alarm 
at the absence of professional counsel, for he had a 
constitutional lack of self-confidence that caused him 
to feel a painful burden of responsibility in prescrib- 
ing for patients. At the end of the first six months 
he wrote: 


“Whatever seemed once likely to be my fate it is 
pretty certain now that there is more danger of my 
wearing out than of rusting out in this land. Have been 
on the run or occupied with visitors all the day and 
evening . . . and my poor brain has, like its fellow 
labourer the heart, been compelled to go through with a 
great deal. What sights of human misery I am com- 
pelled to see. And to feel that I have not the power of 
skill to alleviate,—the iron enters my soul.” 


Whatever may have been the first effect of being 
compelled to enter upon his profession alone, it is 
doubtful whether Dr. House ever perceived that this 
constraint was probably one means by which he 
gained the confidence of the Siamese within a very 
short period. For instead of being regarded either as 
a competitor or as an assistant to Dr. Bradley, he was 
accepted at the outset upon the reputation which his 
predecessor had so firmly established. It was this 
repute of western medicine which caused the great 
man to send so promptly for an unknown physician 
to treat the self-mutilated servant. 

Quickly it became known among the people of 
Bangkok that another physician had arrived. ‘The 
calls for treatment came in such numbers and with 


12 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


such importunity that in self-defense it was deemed 
wise to open the dispensary which had remained 
closed since the departure of Dr. Bradley, although 
there was only a limited supply of drugs on hand and 
the nearest base of supplies was London. ‘The dis- 
pensary, or hospital as it was sometimes called, of 
which Dr. House thus suddenly found himself the 
proprietor and whole staff, was just one of the in- 
numerable floating houses which lined the river banks 
of the Siamese capital. It is said that when this new 
capital was being established the common people were 
not allowed to build houses on land but permitted to 
live only in boats, At any rate, until modern times 
the larger portion of the population lived in float- 
ing houses. | 

These houses are simply constructed. A raft of 
bamboo forms the foundation, which is moored to the 
bank or to poles driven into the mud. Upon that 
foundation a one-story house of boards, thatched with 
palm leaves, is built. The house is, customarily, di- 
vided into three rooms. At either end, extending 
clear across the floor is a kitchen and a common bed- 
room. The space between is occupied by the common 
living-room and a porch. The living-room is fully 
open along the porch, from which it is separated by 
the rise of a step. Closely packed together in irregu- 
lar rows, sometimes two or three deep, these houses 
are ranged along the banks of the river and of the 
many canals that form the Venetian highways of the 
city. The channel beneath the houses, kept from 
being stagnant by movement of the tide, served at 
once as the sewer and the family bath. Many of 
these houses are occupied as stores, with their mer- 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 13 


chandise exposed to the full view of the customer 
who does his shopping in a boat. 

It was such a house as this that served the mis- 
sionary as a hospital. But “hospital” is scarcely the 
proper word to use judged from the equipment, which 
consisted of a chair or two, a table for operations and 
a few mats for the patients. But the place had one 
great advantage—the open side exposed the work of 
the foreign doctor to the gaze of the curious natives 
who stopped while passing in their boats, and then 
related to their friends the wonders they had seen. 

Here in this rude native shelter, until he gave up 
his profession, Dr. House applied himself with deep 
devotion and self-abandon to relieving the physical 
sufferings of the people. He placed himself wholly 
at their service, and made no discrimination between 
rank of those he served. Frequently he would not 
reach the dinner table till the middle of the afternoon, 
detained by the importuning patients; and he even 
laments that the people would not summon him in the 
night time in case of serious need. 


SOME TYPICAL CASES 


His record of patients, to one who is not familiar 
with a physician’s records, gives astonishment at the 
kind of cases which seemed to predominate. One 
class was the ulcers and running sores—many of 
them most aggravated. These usually were the result 
of long-neglected wounds. He writes of extracting 
bamboo splinters great and small that had become 
imbedded in the flesh and remained there to produce 
serious inflammation and infection. In such cases an 
ignorance too dense for intelligence to comprehend 


14 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


was the contributory cause of untold suffering. A 
second class of cases frequently appearing was that of 
fresh wounds resulting from drunken brawls, street 
fights, treachery and revenge, or self-mutilation. 
Scarcely a week passed but a patient was brought in 
with head cut open, face gashed, back lashed, or 
some other gaping cut. But most loathsome of all 
were the diseases which the doctor characterised as 
the result of vices—diseases which found victims 
among all sorts and conditions of men who “ working 
that which is unseemly ” received “ in themselves that 
recompense of their errors which was meet.” 

A cursory review of one day’s succession of pa- 
tients will be suggestive. Here returns a man with a 
tumor on his ear, having the previous day been ad- 
vised to come for an operation: 


“ With good courage and I believe without a trembling 
hand, I sat down to this, my first operation not only in 
the Kingdom of Siam, but the first operation I think I 
ever undertook. It was a simple one, and oh, I cannot 
but catch such a glimpse of my Father’s lovingkindness 
in thus gently leading his poor ignorant child by such 
simpler cases into the confidence in myself necessary to 
dc the more serious cases which will doubtless fall to my 
lot. ... Believing that without His blessing the sim-- 
plest operation would fail and with it the most doubtful 
one might prosper, I lifted up my heart a moment to 
Him in whose name I had ventured to come among this 
people to try to do them good.” 


While attending him, a boat came up with two 
women, one a loathsome object full of sores and 
scabs—face, hands and limbs—the scars of former 
ulcers. A Chinaman with a scrofulous neck—a iad 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 15 


with gastric derangement—a boy whose leg was 
transfixed with a sharp piece of bamboo—so moves 
the procession. As he returns late for dinner he 
observes : 


“ This morning was fully occupied till dinner at 2 p.m., 
trying to do the works of mercy—how could I send any 
away empty! And oh, how happy I should have been in 
such Christ-like works had I but knowledge of the dis- 
eases, and judgment and skill. As it is now, the deciding 
what is to be done with each case is an act of the mind 
positively painful, because I am constantly fearing that 
I may not follow the best possible plan.” 


On another day thus reads the entry: 


“On going down to the floating house at 9 a.m., found 
several new patients. A Chinaman of fifty, with caries 
of the lower jaw, skin of cheek adhering, pus has dis- 
charged from a large cavity within the mouth. Another 
Chinaman with syphilitic destruction of the bones of the 
nose—a hole left-:in the flattened face where pus was 
discharging. ... He seemed to be in great torment— 
eaten of worms literally. Now a mother brings a naked 
child of five, having large ulcers and a lump on the 
thigh, the sequel of the smallpox had two or three 
months ago. A Chinaman brings the child of a friend; 
poor lad, the smallpox had destroyed one eye and 
blinded the other—so no hope, no remedy.” 


BUSY DAYS AND A BURDENED HEART 


The hours at the hospital were daily from early 
morning, frequently from six or seven o’clock, till 
noon. During the latter part of the afternoon he 
answered calls in various parts of the city. By these 
calls he came into the homes of the people and be- 


16 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


came better acquainted with them than he could have 
done under ordinary circumstances. He gives what 
he calls a fair specimen of the missionary pays s 
life in Siam when his hands are full: 


“When I awaked in the morning found two sets of 
servants waiting for me—one from Prince Chao Fah 
Noi, who had sent his boat for me to go up to his palace 
just as soon as I could finish my breakfast; another from 
Chao Arim, the King’s brother, wishing me to come over 
and see some one in his palace very sick. My first duty 
of course was to attend to little George, whom I found 
still living, though much the same. This occupied the 
time before breakfast. After a hasty meal, stepped into 
the sampan sent for me (the servants still waiting to 
take me across the river to Chao Arim’s)—having dis- 
missed the Prince’s servants with a note requesting to be 
excused. On the other shore entered gates of the city 
wall. ... While I was waiting for the Prince to be 
notified of my arrival, servants gathered around; exam- 
ined my clothing, one wished me to take off my hat to 
see if my head was shaved, another admired my watch— 
the ticking pleased the children mightily. Some strong 
ammonia I had pleased them very much. A young man 
with a flaming long jacket of red silk (no shirt or vest 
above his waist cloth) came out; all servants squatted 
on the ground. This young Prince conducted me up a 
rude ladder to the bamboo dwelling of the sick man. 

“ Returning, invited to see the great man himself. The 
audience halls of these great men are after all rather 
well-adapted to the climate; immense rooms, lofty ceil- 
ings, furniture of matting, etc. Returning to my place, 
found a boatman from the Moorish Madras merchant’s 
awaiting me. Accompanied the Hindoo, who had been 
sent for me, in his open boat with umbrella over my 
head; the sun, however, very hot, though this is our cold 
season. Some distance down the river landed at the 
Nackodah’s commercial establishment, and found myself 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 17 


in the midst of quite a number of intelligent looking and 
polite Mahommedan Hindoo merchants and clerks, with 
their picturesque costume; the turban of twisted shawl 
and robes of thin white muslin, and sandals. Was re- 
ceived very courteously, conducted to a bamboo house 
nearby. The patient, a fine looking man, swarthy, with 
aquiline nose and mustache, lay on a mat bed behind a 
screen. ... And now the voice of Dit, a servant of 
Chao Fah Noi, was heard; he had followed on after me, 
not finding me at home—the Prince being very desirous 
of seeing me. So I stepped into the handsome boat he 
had sent, and was soon at the palace. Here received 
with a smile of welcome. ... Wished me to shew him 
how to make chlorine gas. Succeeded well. Gave him 
a piece of fluorspar and directions for etching glass. 
Left several jars of chlorine. His boat in readiness to 
take me back. ... In the evening a call from Prince 
Ammaruk, in his priestly yellow robes, several priests 
with him.” 


All these interesting scenes and varieties of experi- 
ence, however, did not lighten the burden of the heart. 
When a patient suffered pain and inflammation after 
an operation, he cries out: 


“How can I go forward in a profession where I may 
inflict suffering. If it was only injury to property and 
not to life and health and senses! Alas, how hard a 
destiny, how could I choose this profession! ” 


On a Saturday night he sighs: 


“And so ends another week during which mercies 
have been ever changing, ever new. It has been a week 
of labors for Christ .. and yet, though my poor head 
is ready to ache with the task of deciding, judging, pre- 


18 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


scribing, I find a sweet kind of weariness that comes 
from serving Jesus Christ.” 


Such a tender heart and sympathetic nature suf- 
fered most where it could help the least. The obstet- 
rical customs of the country in particular caused the 
doctor both distress and irritation on account of the 
lamentable ignorance displayed and of the needless 
sufferings caused. 


CHEER FROM GRATEFUL PATIENTS 


The experiences of his professional practise were 
not all depressing. Operations were successful in 
spite of his fears, and when least expected. Most 
cheering was the gratitude of the patients, many of 
whom acknowledged their lives reclaimed from death 
by his hands. The marks of appreciation on the part 
of some of these were most touching. 


“Have been permitted by a gracious providence this 
week to have the happiness of saving the life of a 
fellow-creature, which the venom of a poisonous snake 
was appearing fast to be destroying. Poor fellow, he 
was thankful enough. The first symptom of returning 
consciousness before he regained his lost power of 
speech was his attempt to put his feeble hands together 
and raise them to his forehead in token of his gratitude 
to his doctor. When three days after, sound in health 
and limb, he came to see me. ‘Doctor, you are very, 
very good, was his very emphatic expression of what 
filled his heart. And then he grasped my hand—a liberty 
men of his condition in life seldom take—in both his and 
repeated, ‘You are very, very good.’” 


Dr. House had adopted the policy of gratuitous 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK 19 


service. His motive was to exemplify the Christian 
spirit by rendering these inestimable benefits without 
charge. Perhaps at the time he did not know the 
philosophy of the Siamese in the matter of good 
deeds. 

The theory of the Buddhist religion is that a good 
deed gains merit for the doer. As a sequence, to be 
the recipient of a favour is to assist the other person 
to earn merit; and since the merit is ample reward for 
the good deed it is not necessary to make any per- 
sonal return for the favour received. When Dr. 
House later came to understand this philosophy he 
perceived why it was that “of ten healed only one 
returned to give thanks.” Yet there were not a few 
whose natural sense of gladness was not wholly sup- 
pressed by their religious theories. One day, three or 
four years after he had been in Siam, he went out 
along one of the canals into the country to a limekiln 
to get some lime for the new house under construc- 
tion at the mission. An old woman came out to wait 
upon him, and to his surprise she refused to take pay; 
and explained that some time previously the doctor 
had healed her little girl. 

The set policy not to accept fees was not so easily 
understood by the Chinese to whom he ministered. 
Frequently, to avoid offense, the Doctor found it 
necessary to compromise by accepting gifts in lieu of 
money ; and then he would be the recipient of gener- 
ous presents of fruit, quantities of rice, numerous 
cakes of sugar and small chests of fine tea—gifts in 
such abundance that he had to share them with his 
friends to dispose of all. 

But not least of the rewards for professional service 


20 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


did he esteem the acquaintance and friendships among 
the patients. These people came from many parts of 
the country and there were numerous representatives 
from other countries. Sailors from European ports 
sought him out for medical treatment, Chinese trades- 
men and junk captains, Malays, Burmese, Peguans, 
Cambodians, Lao, and the foreign merchants from 
India. Then, too, Bangkok the capital of Siam was . 
visited periodically by officials from the distant 
provinces, many of whom came for professional ad- 
vice to the foreign physician. The contact established 
with these various peoples, and especially with the 
provincial governors, served to excellent advantage in 
after years when the doctor made tours into the far 
regions. In particular, the under-Governor of Petch- 
aburi who came for professional advice, invited the 
doctor to visit his provincial capital, and in later years 
when he had been promoted in office and rank in 
Bangkok he remained the steadfast friend of Doctor 
House. 


WITH THE PATIENTS 


There were bits of humour now and then amidst 
the procession of human tragedies. 


“While feeling the pulse of the patient and holding 
my watch to count its beat, another man sitting by 
begged me to feel his, and after I had counted it he | 
gravely asked me ‘in just how many years after this he 
would die,’ ” 


Some of the humour was grim humour indeed; for 
one day he was hastily summoned only to find that 
the supposed patient was a corpse. Humourous from 


A SUDDEN PLUNGE INTO WORK - 21 


one point of view but quite perturbing for a physician 
was the innocent disregard for the directions left with 
medicines ; indeed the doctor could never tell whether 
the failure of a prescription was due to the ineffect- 
iveness of the drugs or to the failure of the patient to 
take the medicine as prescribed, for he found that the 
patient was liable to take the whole potion at once or 
just as liable to have another member of the family 
take the remedy vicariously. 

Quite frequently, when the callers from a distance 
came to see him, they made the parting request for 
medicine to take home with them, and thought it 
altogether needless for the doctor to know what dis- 
ease they expected to use it for. Pathetic was the 
case of the cholera patient consumed with fever who 
begged the doctor to give “ medicine to cure the desire 
for drinking water.” Even more simple-minded was 
the old man who came to inquire if he could be healed 
if he ““wyed” to Jesus,—that is to make the rever- 
ential bow of worship customarily accorded to the 
image of Buddha. Then there was the deaf man who 
came back to report that he had read “ the Christian 
book of magic” and that it had failed to cure him. 

Not the least perplexing of these absurd situations 
was the difficulty of securing necessary permission to 
administer the medicines even after the doctor had 
been especially summoned: 


“The poor woman who lay on a mattress bolstered up 
was in great distress evidently—and I soon found that 
no time was to be lost. I shall never forget how pite- 
ously she turned her anxious eyes towards me as she 
faintly said, ‘Can you heal me?’ I recommend certain 
treatment. Nothing could be done, however, till the 


22 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


matter had been submitted to the Praklang. So a mes- 
senger was despatched, His Excellancy again aroused 
from his nap;—and what a message brought back: The 
application of hot cloths would be permitted, but the 
more effective treatment proposed was something new— 
he did not know—he could not consent to it. Thinking 
then of another mode of treating the case and not 
dreaming but that this I might venture to give—but no; 
this prescription must be reported to headquarters before 
it could be administered. Again a messenger was des- 
patched. The answer came back: we must wait to see 
what a hot fomentation would do; if this did any good 
then the prescription might be tried.” 3 


I] 


“THE MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART ” 
vs HIS day thirteen years ago, while a just- 

arrived student at Dartmouth College, it 
pleased my sovereign Maker to manifest His 
everlasting love to me by inclining my heart to choose 
Him as my portion, and His service as my reward.” 

Such is his salutatory in the service of God, as re- 
corded by Samuel R. House, in his journal under date 
of Feb. 22, 1848. He had been in Siam less than a 
year; long enough however for the novelty of his 
situation to abate a little so that he had time to reflect. 
Reflecting, he sees how that youthful dedication was 
—so far as he was consciously concerned—the begin- 
ning of the lines of life that led him to Siam. 

Four years later, on the anniversary of his arrival 
in Siam, contemplating the fruitlessness of those years 
and ready to incriminate himself for “a culpable 
ignorance of the language,” he again writes: 


“How different doubtless am I regarded at home by 
over-esteeming friends. How false a biography would 
that be, some of them would write. ... Let no one 
eulogise such a character, such a worthless, unworthy 
life as mine. If a Christian hope be the joy of my life, 
by the grace of God I am what I am; but my wayward- 
ness, my inefficiency is all my own.” 


The cause of this despondency was not within him- 
3 23 


24 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


self. It was the miasma arising from the spiritual 
decay around him. But as none liveth unto himself, 
so none dieth to himself. The example of such per- 
sistent faith belongs to the church; and it has too — 
great a value for the living to allow the judgment of 
a passing despondency to prevail. 

At length comes the valedictory. On the occasion 
of the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of perma- 
nent work in Siam by the Presbyterian Church (U. 
S. A.) in 1897, Dr. House wrote to a friend: 


“ And now in my eightieth year, sole survivor of that 
little band, I feel it a privilege indeed to look back and 
see what God hath wrought since that day of small 
beginnings. Verily the little one has become a thousand 
—yes thousands. I] am sure you, my friend, will con- 
gratulate me on being yet alive this blessed day of an 
abundant ingathering from that long barren mission 
field. How the loved ones that have entered into rest 
would rejoice if they could see how their patience of 
hope and labour and love have not been in vain in the 
Lord. There are many in heaven to raise the song of 
jubilee with them, even there.” . 


From that early dedication of self to God while in 
college, through the years “cast down but not de- 
stroyed,” to the golden jubilee—what a strain of © 
human effort, what a magnificent persistence of faith, 
what a glory of hope realized! 


HIS CHARACTER 


The man who had this notable experience would 
not have been singled out, even by those who knew 
him intimately in early manhood, as the one most 
likely to achieve the results which we are to review. 


“MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 25 


The qualities casually observed by acquaintances were 
in his case those which men do not ordinarily associ- 
ate with success. A study of his private journal and 
letters manifests traits which are corroborated by 
many who knew him personally. He was a man of 
deep piety. He was scrupulous regarding the out- 
ward appearance of religion, yet more so concerning 
his inner life. He was verily a man of God. His 
mental nature had a strong inclination to introspec- 
tion, which led to self-depreciation and self-distrust. 
He recoiled from a new venture until he became con- 
vinced that it was the will of God; then, though still 
distrusting his own ability, he laid hold of the task 
with a simplicity of faith and a devotion to duty 
which made him invincible. It is an example of 
how the Holy Spirit, when fully occupying a man’s 
heart, enlarges and fortifies his native capacity 
until the one who is small in his own esteem becomes 
a giant. 

That habit of introspection may have been due in 
part to the austere idea of religion which prevailed at 
the time ; at any rate it gave him a somber demeanor. 
The solemn side of life seems mostly before him, 
although his associates found a playfulness and jocu- 
larity about him that offset his soberness. Only 
thirty years of age when he left home, yet from the 
first his letters to his father read more like the letters 
of a father to a son. But deeper and stronger than 
either of these traits was his tender sympathy. It was 
more than a sympathy of sentiment; it was a sym- 
pathy that caused him to share the sufferings of 
others. Concerning his medical work he said: “ When 
I cannot relieve, I suffer.” This eagerness to relieve 


26 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


pain led him to a forgetfulness of his own interests 
which his physique marvellously endured. 

Then, too, he had a timidity which at times 
amounted to phobism and made it difficult for him to 
reach a decision and even caused him to appear fickle 
in purpose. But fortunately, along with that weak- 
ness he had a courage which nerved him to face any 
hostility or danger with a daring which compelled 
opposition to give way; and by that quality he carried 
through many a venture which for a time seemed 
doomed to failure. Humble to a point of self- 
abnegation, at times he was as lordly as a monarch in 
the exercise of the prerogatives of the liberty of the 
gospel; and beyond a doubt it was his refusal to imi- 
tate oriental truculence before provincial officials 
which inspired that class with respect for the rights 
of the foreigner. Among the Siamese who still re- 
member him, he is spoken of as “the man with the 
gentle heart.” | 


HIS PARENTAGE 


Samuel Reynolds House was born in Waterford, 
New York, Oct. 16, 1817, being the second child of 
John and Abby Platt House. His parents both united 
with the Presbyterian Church of that village upon 
profession of faith, in 1810. At that time the Water- 
ford congregation was in collegiate relation with the 
congregation of lLansingburgh, located eastward 
across the Hudson River, under the pastorate of Rev. 
Samuel Blatchford, D.D. In the next year John 
House was elected an elder in the collegiate church; 
and when the Waterford congregation became a sepa- 
rate organisation, in 1820, Mr. and Mrs. House be- 


“MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 27 


came charter members of the new organisation, and 
Mr. House was continued as an elder—an office which 
he held till his death, April 27, 1862. 

The active interest of Mr. House in the spiritual 
work of the church is indicated by the fact that he 
conducted a Sunday school for coloured children in a 
room in a carpenter shop, and when the young church 
erected a house of worship, in 1826, this Sunday 
school was transferred to the gallery of the church. 
He is also recorded as having been the superintendent 
of the regular Sunday school of the church after it 
was established. His interest in the church continued 
active up to the close of his life. In his later years, 
when the congregation was considering the construc- 
tion of a new “session house” for the use of the 
Sunday school and prayer-meeting, John House 
sought the privilege of erecting the building at his 
own expense; and that fine building, erected in 1859, 
remains today as a memorial to his love and zeal for 
the church. 

Abby House was one of the original members of 
the “ Female Cent Society ” of the Waterford church, 
organised in 1817. The object of this society was to 
“afford assistance to poor and pious young men pur- 
suing their studies in the theological seminary at 
Princeton.” The quaint name of this society was 
double with meaning. Each member was pledged to 
contribute one cent a week to the fund, which was 
then placed in the hands of the moderator of Presby- 
tery to dispense. Later the society co-operated with 
the American Education Society until the General 
_ Assembly forbade that organisation to operate within 
the denomination in competition with the new Board 


28 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


of Ministerial Education. The word “ female” sug- 
gests that the sex was about that period emerging 
into the self-consciousness of a separate work for 
religion and was not content to keep its labours hidden 
behind the mask of the male portion of the families. 

If we were to seek for the motives that led young 
Samuel to dedicate himself to foreign missions we 
would not be surprised to find that the mother had 
some of the credit. He says that he was prompted to 
become a missionary because his mother dedicated 
him to God for foreign missions from his infancy. 
Out of that maternal inspiration came also the prayer 
of his youth: 


“Make me a good boy 
And a blessing to my parents 
And a blessing to all the world.” 


The ambition thus early implanted was nurtured dur- 
ing the boyhood years by stories of missions. When 
in later years he visited the Hawaiian Islands on his 
way to Siam he recalls those stories : 


“ How little did I dream I was ever to see them, when 
that dear mother of mine used to tell me such interesting . 
stories about the missionaries there and show me, out of 
her treasures kept in that always-locked drawer of her 
bureau, the precious bit she had of native cloth made of 
the bark of a tree. And when she took me to the 
“Monthly Concert,’ as she always did, how much I used 
to be interested in news from those far away isles,” 


RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS | | 
Closely associated with the motives to enter the 


“MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 29 


mission field are a man’s religious convictions. Those 
earlier missionaries were conspicuous for their lively 
sense of peril for impenitent souls. Dr. House had a 
spiritual sensitiveness which shared this feeling to the 
full. Frequent lamentation is to be found in his 
journal for the certain perdition of ones with whom 
he had been acquainted, and who died without an evi- 
dence of accepting the Christian faith. This was not 
merely a professional attitude towards the heathen. 
Upon news of the death of an old school mate he 
exclaims: 


“Oh, did he die safely! What would I not give to be 
assured he did. But oh, I tremble. Procrastination thou 
- art the thief of time, the murderer of souls. And con- 
science reproaches me with having too long postponed 
the sending to him that letter on the subject of the 
claims of personal religion, a draught of which has for 
years been lying in my portfolio. It might, under the 
blessing of the Holy One, have done him good—at any 
rate it was my duty, my privilege to invite him, to urge 
him to walk with me towards heaven. I have sinned. 
I have been unfaithful.” 


When a Siamese lad who had been connected with the 
mission for a few months was suddenly carried off by 
the cholera, the anguish of the doctor brought him to 
tears of self-reproach, not because his skill had failed 
but because he had not been more insistent in urging 
the gospel upon the boy. 

At this distance of time one can see that the failure 
of some of the Siamese to be persuaded was due to a 
want of concatenation in the heathen mind between 
the physical facts already familiar to them but not 


30 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


comprehended, and the spiritual truths of this new 
religion. Behind the sublime faith of the missionary 
there was a rigidity of logic which failed to take these 
mental difficulties into account; as for instance when 
a young priest proposed this dilemma: “ Who was the 
mother of Jesus? Mary. Who made Mary? God. 
Was Jesus Christ God? Yes. But if Jesus Christ 
was God, how could He make Mary his mother before 
He Himself was born?” Turning from the dis- 
putant, the doctor declined to discuss the problem 
because he thought the man was caviling. | 

At one period the doctor entertained a vivid ex- 
pectation of the culmination of the Christian dispen- 
sation at an early date. He had enough of the 
mystical in his religious nature to look for signs. 
Thus he writes in view of the conditions of Europe 
in 1848: 


“ All Europe, every kingdom has felt the shock of the 
political earthquake in France. Kingdoms, principalities 
and powers tremble. These are signs that herald the 
near approach of the Coming One. The day of the — 
world’s redemption surely draweth nigh.” 


And again two years later he writes to Dr. D. B. 
McCartee at Ningpo: , 


“Surely the world must needs wait for but few of the 
signs, that are to herald His coming, to be fulfilled. 
‘Wars and rumors of wars,’ earthquake and pestilence 
and famine, the ‘running to and fro,’ the gospel preached 
for a witness in every nation—what signs of the ‘ ends 
drawing nigh’ is left unfulfilled in our day—unless it be 
that a few countries (central Africa, New Guinea, etc.) 
remain still unevangelised. The last of God’s elect, how- 


“MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 31 


ever, may be born—nay, the messenger who is to call 
him, in Providence may have started on his errand; and 
who knows but that privilege is for you or me.” 


But that type of speculation has its own antidote, 
viz., time. As his years drew out their number, the 
visions of youth gave way to the dreams of old men; 
and in reviewing what had been achieved and what 
remained to be accomplished the doctor displaced 
these speculations with the simple faith that the Lord 
would come again in His own time, but at a time un- 
revealed to men. It needs to be remembered that Dr. 
House had been trained in medicine, not in theology. 
Whatever may have been illogical in his tenets, there 
was in his heart the profound conviction not only that 
Jesus Christ was the only Saviour of the world, but 
that the Siamese would accept the Christian religion, 
if only they could be induced to examine fairly 
its claims. 


EDUCATION 


Samuel received a careful and thorough education. 
After elementary work in the private academy of 
Waterford, at the early age of twelve he spent a year 
or more in the “ Washington Academy” of Cam- 
bridge, New York, then under the principalship of 
Rey. Nathaniel Scudder Prime. In later years he re- 
called with pleasure some of his classmates: “ We 
read Cesar together; John K. Meyers, David Bullions 
(Latin grammarian), EF. D. G. Prime (editor of the 
New York Observer), and I recited to Samuel 
Irenzus.” In 1833 he entered the Rensselaer Poly- 
technic Institute at Troy, five miles from home. 


32 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


In the winter term 1835 he entered Dartmouth 
College at Hanover, New Hampshire, but remained 
only till the close of that academic year. It was here 
that occurred the deeper spiritual experience which he 
recalls in the words that open this chapter; a con- 
scious conversion during a revival which swept 
through the college that winter. It was following this 
experience that in the same year he united with the 
Waterford church upon profession of faith, Why he 
did not continue at Dartmouth does not appear; prob- 
ably the difficulty of access would have been a chief 
factor. However, in the fall of that year he entered 
Union College, at Schenectady, a few miles from his 
home. His work at Rensselaer and Dartmouth quali- 
fied him to enter the junior class, so that he graduated 
in the year 1837. He received the degree A.B. in 
course and the honour of @ B.K.; and following three 
years of post graduate work in teaching, he received 
the degree M.A. from his alma mater. The three 
years immediately following graduation from Union 
were spent in teaching ; one year in Virginia, a year as” 
principal of Weston (Conn.) Academy and a year as 
principal of the private school “ Erasmus Hall,” in 
Brooklyn. He now entered upon his medical course, 
spending the year 1841-2 in the University of Penn- 
sylvania, and the next year in the Albany Medical 
College. With the lapse of a year not accounted for 
in the record,—probably teaching in Virginia, to- 
which he refers in telling of some chemical ex- 
periments—he graduated from the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons of New York with the degree 
M.D. in 1845. 

Upon completion of his medical course he offered 


“MAN WITH THE GENTLE HEART” 33 


himself to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions (Old School), and was commissioned in 1846. 
He was assigned to Siam together with his college- 
mate, Rev. Stephen Mattoon, of Sandy Hill, New 
York, (now Hudson Falls). Placing himself under 
the care of the Presbytery of Troy he was licensed 
to preach. 


Ill 


THE LITTLE CHISEL ATTACKS THE BIG 
MOUNTAIN 


make a treaty voluntarily with Europe. Siam 

was the first Asiatic power with which the 
United States entered into diplomatic relations. Siam 
was the first Oriental people to adopt Western cus- 
toms, upon accession of King Chulalongkorn, in 1868. 
Siam was the first non-Christian land to grant reli- 
gious liberty to its subjects in relation to Christian 
missions, in 1870. 

Siam was the first field entered by the Presby- 
terian Board of Foreign Missions after its organisa- 
tion. In Siam was organised the first Protestant 
church of Chinese Christians. In Siam the first 
zenana mission work was undertaken. Siam is the ~ 
last independent state in which Buddhism is the 
established religion. 

Yet Siam is little known to Western people. She is 
neither belligerent nor turbulent, therefore offers no 
military spectacle. She has no foreign ambitions, 
therefore arouses no diplomatic concern. Her trade 
is largely with China, therefore she makes no impress . 
upon the commercial mind of the west. She lies off 
the beaten path of world traffic, therefore tourists 
seldom visit the land. 

Siam lies in what was formerly known as “ Farther 


34 


Gin was the first nation of the Far East to 





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as of 1847 et seq. 





STRAXTS 


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THE LITTLE CHISEL 35 


India.” Shaped somewhat like a long mutton-chop, 
the northern portion is an irregular-oval, approxi- 
mately six hundred by five hundred miles in reach, 
from which a long narrow leg extends some five hun- 
dred miles southward down the Malay peninsula. 
Within the fold of these two portions lies the Gulf of 
Siam. The main portion of the land lies between 12° 
and 20° 40’ north, and is confined on the east by 
French possessions and on the west by British 
Burmah. 

Northern Siam occupies almost the entire drainage 
system of the Menam River, and a part of the western 
watershed of the Mekong River. The central part 
abounds with swamps, jungles and briny wastes, in- 
tersected by many branch streams and canals. The 
bulk of the population live along these watercourses. 
Bangkok is the largest city, and is both the commer- 
cial and political capital. Chiengmai is the principal 
city of the northern province, which was formerly 
known as Laos but is now a political part of the 
kingdom. 

The relations of Siam with the nations of the west 
date back to the days of the Portuguese adventurers 
in the early part of the sixteenth century; relations 
which were not diplomatic but purely commercial. 
About the middle of the seventeenth century the king 
of Siam entered into relations with the English, 
French and Dutch, but only to the extent of an ex- 
change of royal courtesies, which after a time became 
quiescent. Intercourse with the west was renewed by 
Siam when, upon her solicitation, a treaty was made 
with Great Britain in 1826. Doubtless fear was the 
motive which prompted King Phra Chao Pravat 


36 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Thong, who reigned from 1824 to 1851, to propose 
this treaty, for England had just compelled the neigh- 
bouring state of Burmah to open her doors to trade 
as the result of war. 

The volitional act of the Siamese monarch was ap- 
parently a shrewd stroke of diplomacy, for having 
granted the right of trade admission and inland travel, 
the king adopted a policy of ignoring the few for- 
eigners within his domains and thereby discouraging 
his people from having intercourse with them. At the 
same time he held a monopoly of Siamese shipping 
and levied heavy impost and expost so that what trade 
there was served to enrich his private treasury. In 
1833, Honourable Edmund Roberts, who had been 
sent by President Andrew Jackson to explore the pos- 
sibilities of trade with the native states of Farther 
India and Cochin China, succeeded in effecting a 
treaty only with Siam. The privileges granted under 
this treaty were not exercised to any great extent and 
were almost allowed to lapse because’ no consular 
representative was appointed. The early American 
missionaries relied chiefly upon the privileges kept 
alive by the “ factories,” as the foreign trading estab- 
lishments in Bangkok were called. 


EARLY MISSIONS 


When one of the early missionaries explained to a 
nobleman that their purpose in coming to Siam was to 
supplant the native religion by Christianity, the noble- 
man replied: “Do you then with your little chisel 
expect to remove this big mountain? ”’—referring to 
Buddhism. How this mountain began to crumble 
during Dr. House’s twenty-nine years of service will 


THE LITTLE CHISEL 37 


be best understood by giving a sketch of the work 
previous to his arrival. 

The early treaty with Great Britain gave first en- 
trance for Protestant missions.” In 1828 Karl Gutz- 
laff, M.D., of the Netherlands Missionary Society, 
and Rev. Jacob Tomlin, of the London Missionary 
Society, went up to Bangkok to spy out the land. 
Before that date the Siamese had been the distant 
object of interest on the part of Ann Judson, of Bur- 
mah, who, as early as 1819, having met some Siamese 
at Rangoon, became interested enough to prepare in 
their language a catechism and the Gospel of 
Matthew—the first Christian books in the Siamese 
language. While Gutzlaff and Tomlin found the 
doors of Siam open and discovered that there was a 
considerable Chinese population there, they were not 
encouraged by their supporters to effect a permanent 
occupation. For this reason they issued an appeal to 
the American Church then newly awakened to mis- 
sionary zeal, sending one copy of the appeal to the 
American Baptist mission in Burmah and another to 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions in the United States. This message was 
taken to America in 1829 by Capt. Coffin, of the 
American trading vessel which at the same time 
brought the famous Siamese Twins. 

The A. B. C. F. M. was the first to respond. In 
1831 they directed one of their men located at a 
Chinese treaty port, Rev. David Abeel, M.D., to pro- 
ceed to Siam and make a survey. At Singapore he 
was joined by Mr. Tomlin, who had returned thither 
for recuperation, and the two reached Bangkok just a 
few days after Dr. Gutzlaff, disheartened by the death 


38 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


of his young wife, had sailed away to China. Mr. 
Tomlin this time remained only some six months, but 
Dr. Abeel continued until November, 1832, when he 
was forced to leave on account of health. His survey 
of the field resulted in a report to the A. B. C. F. M. 
which induced them to attempt a permanent work. In 
the meantime, in 1833, the Baptist mission in Burmah 
responded to the appeal by sending two of their num- 
ber, Rev. J. T. Jones and wife, to establish a mission. 
Two years later Rev. Wm. Dean was sent out from 
America by the Baptists as a co-labourer of Mr. Jones 
but to devote himself particularly to the Chinese. 

In pursuance of Dr. Abeel’s report the A. B. C. F. 
M. sent out two men, Rev. Stephen Johnson and Rev. 
Charles Robinson, who reached Bangkok July, 1834, 
and these were joined the next year by David Brad- 
ley, M.D., and wife. Both the Baptists and the A. B. 
C. F. M. at this time regarded their work in Siam 
largely as a point of vantage for China proper on 
account of the large number of Chinese here acces- 
sible. The work among the Chinese was so fruitful 
that in two years’ time Mr. Dean was able to organise 
a church among them, the first church of Protestant 
Chinese Christians ever gathered in the Far East. 

Siam was the first field to be taken up as a new 
enterprise by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions after its establishment by the General Assembly. 
Until 1831 the Presbyterians in America had func- 
tioned chiefly through the A. B. C. F. M. in their 
foreign work. In that year a few presbyteries west 
of the Alleghanies organised the Western Foreign 
Missionary Society, to conduct their own foreign 
work. Beginning with missions to the Indians (then 


THE LITTLE CHISEL 39 


regarded as “ foreign”) they established work in 
India and Africa in 1833. The direction of its own 
foreign work by the church was one of the points in- 
volved in the division of the Presbyterian Church into 
the New School and the Old School in 1838. The Old 
School took over the Western Foreign Mission So- 
ciety in that year as a nucleus for a new Board of 
Foreign Missions which their General Assembly es- 
tablished; and that Board has been in continuous 
operation ever since. In its first year the new Board 
directed Rev. R. W. Orr to proceed to Bangkok and 
report on the eligibility of Siam as a field for opera- 
tion. Mr. Orr reported, recommending not only work 
among the Chinese but also advocating work for the 
natives. Accordingly the Presbyterian Board sent out 
Rev. Wm. Buell and wife, who reached Bangkok in 
August, 1840, the first missionaries to be sent out by 
the new organisation. These two remained for some 
three years, when on account of ill health of Mrs. 
Buell they were obliged to withdraw; and thereupon 
the mission was suspended for a time. 

When, as a result of the opium war, the doors of 
China were opened, in 1846, both the A. B. C. F. M. 
and the Baptist society transferred their Chinese 
workers from Siam to China. The difficulty of get- 
ting response from the Siamese had caused their 
workers to devote their energies largely to the Chi- 
nese; and now when this Chinese work was termi- 
nated their missions in Siam were greatly weakened 
both in numbers and in effectiveness. The A. B. C. 
F., M. retained its Siamese workers until 1849, when 
it transferred its enterprise to the American Mission- 
ary Association, an organisation distinctly of the Con- 


40 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


gregational Church; but this Association abandoned 
the field in 1874. In 1868 the Baptist Society gave 
up all except its work for the Chinese in Bangkok, 
leaving the Siamese wholly to the Presbyterian Mis- 
sion. ‘Thus Siam was freed from sectarian rivalry 
long before modern “comity” was brought into 
practise. 

It was at the juncture of withdrawing the major 
portion of the force to China and leaving the Siamese 
missions undermanned that the Presbyterian Church 
undertook to establish anew its mission in Siam, hav- 
ing the native population as the primary objective. 
To that end it sent out Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon 
who, together with Mrs. Mattoon, may rightly be 
regarded as the founders of the permanent work of 
the Presbyterian Church in Siam. 


THE VOYAGE 


In those days of foreign travel it was necessary to 
await a vessel that might by chance be sailing in the 
direction of the desired destination. Fortunately the 
ship Grafton, Captain Abbott, was found to be load- 
ing for a direct voyage to China, and passage was 
obtained for a party of missionaries en route for the 
Orient, including the trio for Siam. On July 27, 
1846, the Grafton sailed from New York. \ 

A journey to the Far East then was a matter of 
time and tedious delays, as well as of adventure. 
The course of the Grafton lay southward through 
the Atlantic, now near the coast of Africa, now near 
the coast of South America, with glimpses of Liberia 
and of Brazil; around the Cape of Good Hope and 
across the Indian Ocean, among the East Indies and 


THE LITTLE CHISEL 41 


thence northward to China. The indirectness of the 
voyage by which Dr. House reached Siam is shown 
by this fact: one hundred days after leaving New 
York, the Grafton put in for water at Ampanan on 
the island of Lombok, one of the smaller of the Fast 
India chain. This port was within four weeks’ direct 
sail of the Siamese capital; whereas the Grafton was 
headed for the port of Canton, to reach which re- 
quired fifty days more; thence by another vessel it 
was necessary to retrace the course to Singapore and 
transfer for Bangkok. 

Could the missionary have taken passage direct 
from Ampanan to Bangkok he would have reached 
his destination in about two-thirds the actual time 
consumed. But even the most direct course to China 
could not then be taken because the season had ar- 
rived for the north-east monsoons on the China Sea, 
which are a peril to sailors. The Grafton was com- 
pelled to pass to the eastward among the Isles of 
Spice, past Pelew Island, out into the Pacific, east of 
the Philippines, within sight of Formosa and thence 
westward to Canton. The doctor writes home to the 
children of the Sunday school that “It was a dream 
of childhood come true to sail among these fabulous 
islands.” On the 28th day of December, one hundred 
and sixty days from New York, the Grafton arrived 
at Macao, the Portuguese port for Canton, which 
during the stormy days of early foreign relations 
with China was a place of safe entry, transfer and 
retreat for merchants and missionaries alike. 

No vessel was to be found bound towards Siam, so 
the missionaries had to wait. The American mer- 
chants Olyphant & Co., of Canton, with hospitality 


42 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“as generous as it was elegant,” took the doctor into 
their home for the sojourn during the delay. Dr. 
House visited the mission school of Dr. Happer, 
located at the port, and also went up to Canton to 
visit the hospital conducted by Dr. Parker, who had 
been a lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania 
when he was a student there. On Feb. 7, the party 
for Siam took passage on the John Bagshaw, Captain 
Dare. After a call at Hong Kong they had a quiet 
passage southward through the China Sea, and on the 
23rd reached Singapore, the maritime capital of the 
South China Sea. 

Here they were fortunate in finding in the harbour 
the native-built trading vessel Lion, Captain Dupont, 
owned by the King of Siam. Although the ship was 
modeled after western vessels, it was of the rudest 
native workmanship, without conveniences for occi- 
dental travellers; and even the orientals who took 
passage had only deck space allotted to them. For 
these three Westerners one small cabin was made 
available and had to serve them day and night for the 
twenty-four day voyage, a sail cloth being suspended 
in the middle as a concession to foreign ideas of 
privacy. Provisions had to be secured at Singapore 
and the Chinese cook of the vessel paid to pre-— 
pare them. | 

The passage from the South China Sea into the 
Gulf of Siam proved to be the climax of the whole 
trip. A violent and prolonged storm was encountered 
which not only added greatly to the misery of the 
ship’s company but imperiled their lives: 


“For nearly three days,” writes Dr. House, “ we have 


THE LITTLE CHISEL 43 


not had one cheering glimpse of the sun. Squall after 
squall of rain has burst in its fury upon us; indeed it 
has been almost one incessant rain, and the wind all 
the time from the most unfavourable quarter has at last 
increased to a gale, driving the ship from her course 
towards we know not what islands and rocks. ... The 
waves are rolling wildly, scowling rain clouds begird the 
horizon and shut out the sky above us and the view 
before us. It is now three days since the captain has 
been able to get an observation, and the dead reckoning 
is in these seas little to be depended upon, owing to the 
strong currents. Our situation is no more safe than it is 
agreeable. ... Every wave rolls us also to and fro, so 
that if one sits or stands he is obliged to be continually 
bracing himself, now this way, now that, to keep the 
center of gravity; and every now and then is pitched by 
some sudden lurch against the nearest object so that 
sides and arms and elbows fairly ache with the bruises. 
. .. And all this time there is in your ears the creaking 
of the rudder chains and the dismal splashing of the 
great waves as they surge up under the stern windows. 
But a greater annoyance yet remains to be spoken of. 
The deck over us (the roof of our cabin) leaks in a 
hundred different places upon us, not in drops but in 
streams. In my compartment there is but one dry 
place, and that is the mattress; and even that is not 
wholly dry, for now and then it drops down upon the 
pillow. The floor is as wet as if being mopped; wet 
trunks, wet books, wet baskets lie around. The chairs 
are too wet to sit upon, and so the bed is the only place 
for rest.” 


WELCOMED BY OTHER MISSIONARIES 


Fortunately the voyage of twenty-four days was 
not all like this, and after the storm had abated there 
was much to make the days interesting. At length 
came the first sight of Siam: 


Ad SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“Friday, March 19. The first sight of Siam. Thy 
people, O Siam, shall be my people; but my God shall be 
their God. Here would I die and here would I be bur- 
ied. ... Henceforth I would live for Thee, my God. 
Thou art a kind Master; and oh, Thou hast bought me, 
every power and faculty; Thou hast bought me by Thy 
precious blood. Let me henceforth shrink from nothing 
—but sin and remissness in Thy blessed service. With 
the beginning of my missionary life I give myself anew, 
tremblingly but trustingly to do Thy will O God, my 
Creator, Guide and Redeemer.” 


The following day, Saturday, March 20, 1847, Dr. 
House landed in Bangkok. The arrival of the new 
missionary party met with a most cordial welcome by 
the small group of fellow Americans already engaged 
in the work. At that time Siam was occupied by two 
American missions, besides French Catholic missions. 
The American Board was then represented by Rev. 
Jesse Caswell and Rev. Asa Hemmenway with their 
wives; while the Baptist Board was represented by 
the following men and their wives: Revs. J. T. Jones, 
Josiah Goddard, and EK. N. Jenks, and Mr. J. H. 
Chandler, a lay missionary. 


“Early on the morning of the 2oth of March, just — 
eight months to a day from the time of our leaving New 
York, we found ourselves at the bar which obstructs the 
entrance of the great river of Siam. ...I was des- 
patched with the captain in a swift, but alas open, boat 
that I might, if the ship was unable to get over the bar, 
make arrangements with friends to send down for Mr. 
and Mrs. Mattoon. After a rather broiling row of some 
twenty miles along a river far more beautiful than I had 
been led to suppose, arrived at the outskirts of this truly 
great city about sun-down. We had still some three 


THE LITTLE CHISEL A5 


miles or more before we reached the residence of the 
missionaries of the A. B. C. F. M., and it was then dark. 
Was most kindly welcomed by Mr. Caswell and Mr. 
Hemmingway, the only missionaries of that Board now 
left; and glad indeed they appeared to see me.” 


On Monday the ship came up to the city and by that 
time plans had been made to house the newly arrived 
missionaries in two of the vacant houses in the mis- 
sion compound where they had been welcomed. 

The relations between the three sets of missionaries 
were most cordial. So far as economy of effort made 
it wise they co-operated in their undertakings. It was 
the dispensary of the A. B. C. F. M. that Dr. House 
re-opened. The tracts used by the three missions 
were printed by the press of the Baptist mission. 
Members of each of the missions took turns at the 
tract house maintained in the bazaar. Although the 
Presbyterians had previously been engaged in work 
in Bangkok they held no property there; and for the 
present it was neither advisable nor possible for the 
newcomers to obtain a location for themselves. It 
was arranged that they should live in the A. B. C. F. 
M. compound until there was time to obtain a desir- 
able site. 

The compound contained several houses built after 
the native style; set high upon posts, with an open 
space beneath, a verandah on all sides, no windows 
but openings for air. In one of these houses Dr. 
House lived for the first two years, having a servant 
to take care of the house but taking his meals with 
the Mattoon family. This arrangement entered upon 
temporarily continued by force of circumstances for 
three years until the return of Rev. D. B. Bradley, 


t 


AG SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


M.D., with another physician, when a readjustment 
of housing was necessary. Thereupon Dr. House 
moved to one of the “ floating houses” moored in 
front of the compound, and this continued to be his 
abode for more than a year until a permanent site was 
secured for the mission. 

The members of the three missions held a common 
service of worship each Sunday morning and after- 
noon. At the morning service the sermon was in 
Chinese or Siamese, while the afternoon service was 
wholly in English. It is interesting to learn that an 
“ original” sermon was unusual, the preacher of the 
day commonly reading a published sermon of some 
well-known divine. On Wednesdays there was an 
informal conference for all workers and servants. 
On Saturday evenings there was a prayer meeting for 
the missionaries only. Later a “ monthly concert of 
prayer for missions” was established. When the 
number of Chinese increased a separate service was 
held for them, and likewise a Sunday school for the 
Siamese pupils of the day school. 

Occasionally there would be in attendance on wor- 
ship some officers from any English vessel in port 
and then in turn one of the missionaries would visit _ 
the vessel and conduct a preaching service for the 
crew. After the treaty of Great Britain, in 1855, the 
number of English families increased very rapidly, 
and while at first many of these attended the services 
at the mission, their number soon warranted the 
erection of a chapel for their own use. 


IV 


RELATIONS WITH ROYALTY AND 
OFFICIALS 


OON after their arrival Dr. House and Mr. 
Mattoon were taken by their fellow mission- 
aries to call upon two princes who had mani- 

fested a friendly interest in the westerners. The 
acquaintance thus formed proved to be of large in- 
fluence both to the mission and to the Siamese nation. 
One of these princes was entitled Chao Fah Yai, 
which signifies “ The older brother of the king,” while 
his brother was entitled Chao Fah Noi, meaning “ ‘The 
younger brother of the king.” As Chao Fah Yai 
later became King of Siam and his brother the Vice- 
King at the same time and as this new king played a 
momentous part in the opening of Siam to intercourse 
with the western nations as well as showed much 
favour to the mission work, it is essential to give a 
sketch of that important personage. 

When, in 1824, the throne was made vacant by the 
death of the royal father of these two men, the older 
son had expected to succeed to the throne. Appar- 
ently this had been the father’s intention, for he had 
given this son the name ‘“ Mongkut,” meaning 
“crown prince.” Through intrigue, however, the 
crown went to a half-brother who, under the title 
Phra Chao Pravat Thong, was the reigning king 
when Dr. House reached Siam. Chao Fah Yai, hay- 


47 


48 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ing been thwarted in his aspirations towards the 
throne, entered the priesthood and retired to a watt, 
doubtless as the safest way to avoid the royal dis- 
pleasure towards a rival,—a course which the custom 
of the country made possible for him. 

The princely rank of this priest made him the 
leader of the Buddhist religion in Siam; and his great 
wealth enabled him to make his watt one of the most 
notable and influential in the country. He was a man 
of enlightened mind beyond his generation. In 
marked contrast to the king, he was interested in for- 
eign affairs and amicably disposed towards the few 
foreigners living in Bangkok, especially towards the 
missionaries, because of their education and culture. 

Having already learned Latin from the French 
priests, in 1845 (then about forty years of age), he 
invited Rev. Jesse Caswell, a missionary of the 
American Board, to become his tutor in English. To 
secure the services of Mr. Caswell he offered in return 
a reward which he perceived would be more prized 
than any fee of gold he could propose. He offered © 
Mr. Caswell the privilege of using a room in one of 
the buildings connected with the watt for preaching 
the Christian religion and distributing tracts, and 
granted permission to the priests of the watt to attend 
if they wished. Mr. Caswell accepted the invitation 
and continued for three years, until his death, to teach 
English to the chief Priest of Buddhism in his own — 
temple, and to preach Christianity to all who cared to 
listen. The esteem of the Prince for his tutor is evi- 
denced by the fact that in 1855, when Dr. House was 
returning to America on furlough, he made the doctor 
the bearer of a gift of one thousand dollars to Mr. 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 49 


Caswell’s widow in token of appreciation of her hus- 
band’s services, and again in 1866, by the same agent, 
he sent a gift of five hundred dollars. He also caused 
a monument to be erected, in memory of his tutor, at 
the grave of Mr. Caswell. 

The more one contemplates the terms made by 
Chao Fah Yai with Mr. Caswell the more astonishing 
it appears. Here is the most influential priest in all 
Siam, the recognised head of the Buddhistic cult in 
Indo-China, inviting into his watt an uncompromising 
teacher of the Christian religion notwithstanding the 
known antipathy of the king to the westerners and 
their religion, and in return for instruction in the 
English language he grants him freedom to teach the 
moral and religious doctrines of Christianity within 
the precincts of consecrated ground and permits 
novitiates and priests under his authority to listen to 
that doctrine. 

This broadmindedness of Chao Fah Yai is further 
shown by an incident which he related to one of the 
Protestant missionaries. Sometime previous to the 
engagement of Mr. Caswell a young priest of the watt 
became a Roman Catholic. The prince was urged to 
flog the young man for abandoning the religion of his 
country. To this suggestion the prince said he re- 
plied: “ The individual has committed no crime; it is 
proper for every one to be left at liberty to choose his 
own religion.” On a later occasion the Governor of 
Petchaburi, having forbidden the distribution of books 
by the Roman Catholic priests in his province because 
he said they sought to shield their converts from the 
authorities when accused of crime, conferred with 
Chao Fah Yai as to whether he should place the same 


50 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ban on the books of the Protestants; but the Priest- 
Prince was able to explain to him the difference of 
policy between the Roman Catholics and the Protest- 
ants and to dissuade him from forbidding the distri- 
bution of Protestant literature. 

From his intercourse with Mr. Caswell, Chao Fah 
Yai was quickened with an interest in Western learn- 
ing, especially the sciences. By his association with 
these missionaries and the discussion of the evidences 
of Christianity he came to recognise that his own re- 
ligion had accumulated a mass of unauthenticated 
teachings, the accretion of centuries of priestly fancy ; 
and he perceived that this accretion must be sloughed 
off if his religion was to meet the pressure of foreign 
civilisation, which he foresaw could not be forever 
excluded. Accordingly he became the leader of a new 
party in Buddhism which rejected the uncanonical 
writings which had accrued to the extent of some 
eighty-four thousand volumes and held only to the 
authentic teachings of Buddha. As the leader of this 
new sect the Prince-Priest was doubtless responsible - 
for the reinvigoration of the religion of Siam, en- 
abling it better to meet the contest of time. 

The interest of Chao Fah Yai in the American mis- 
sionaries was more on account of their intellectual 
culture than on account of their religion. On one 
occasion in conversation with Dr. House he frankly 
said that while he did not believe in Christianity he 
thought much of Western science, especially astron- 
omy, geography and mathematics. His interest in 
these subjects was very keen and practical. From the 
study of navigation he was led into the subject of 
astronomy, and took interest in the calculation ‘of 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 381 


time, and was especially proud that his own calcula- 
tion of an eclipse of the moon was almost identical 
with the Western almanac. His conversation showed 
considerable intelligence of the late developments in 
science. He was also a student of languages, and had 
a knowledge of several languages of eastern India, 
such as Singhalese and Peguan; he was familiar with 
Sanscrit, which had been a contributor to the Siamese 
language, and had studied Latin because he said he 
had been told that it was like the Sanscrit; besides 
these he was an expert student of the Pali, the sacred 
writing of Buddhism. The prince was also the first 
native prince of Farther India to procure a printing 
press, which he obtained from London, with fonts of 
English and Siamese type, and an alphabet of Pali of 
his own devising. 


Apparently Chao Fah Yai approached the subject 
of Christianity as a vigourous mind approaches any 
ponderous subject that presents itself; he considered 
it philosophically. Every religion studied philosoph- 
ically presents insuperable difficulties; a religion may 
be rightly judged only by its practical adaptation to 
life and its effects on the human heart. Had he at- 
tempted to study Christianity in a practical manner as 
he did the science of the West his conclusions would 
doubtless have been different. One evening the prince 
called at the home of Mr. Caswell just as the weekly 
prayer meeting was assembling and, upon invitation, 
remained to the meeting. His questions afterwards 
showed that he had given attention, for he inquired 
the meaning of such words as “redemption” and 
“ Providence,” which he had heard used. 

While it is a fact that on several occasions the 


52 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


prince emphatically disclaimed belief in the Christian 
doctrines, nevertheless the arguments of the mission- 
aries were not without effect upon his mind, for he 
felt himself called upon to do an entirely new thing— 
to publish an apologetic for Buddhism in the points 
where the Christian arguments were most aggressive. 
In another manner also he gave evidence that the 
Christian arguments were pressing upon his con- 
science. The Baptist mission for some years had 
printed an annual almanac filled with Christian truth 
and containing, besides other items of civil informa- 
tion, a list of officials of the government and of the 
watts. In 1848, for the first time, Chao Fah Yai took 
exception to the religious character of the almanac in 
which his name appeared as head priest of his watt. 
He wrote to the editor of the almanac, expressing a 
“wish to have added to the description of myself in 
the English almanac ‘and hates the Bible most of 
all’; we will not embrace Christianity, because we 
think it a foolish religion. Though you should bap- 
tise all in Siam I will never be baptised. . . . You 
think that we are near the Christian religion ; you will 
find my disciples will abuse your God and Jesus.” 

Concerning his attitude to Christianity a comment. 
from Mrs. Leonowens’ book, An English Governess 
at the Siamese Court, casts a little light: 


“He had been a familiar visitor at the houses of 
American missionaries, two of whom Dr. House and Mr. 
Mattoon, were throughout his reign and life gratefully 
revered by him for that pleasant and profitable conver- 
sation which helped to unlock for him the secrets of 
European vigor and advancement, and to make straight 
and easy the paths of knowledge he had started upon. 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 53 


Not even his Siamese nature could prevent him from 
accepting cordially the happy influence these good and 
true men inspired. And doubtless he would have gone 
more than half way to meet them, but for the dazzle of 
the throne in the distance which arrested him midway 
between Christianity and Buddhism.” 


This was the Priest-Prince upon whom the new- 
comers made their first call of respect. The acquaint- 
ance formed at this time ripened into a friendship 
that continued warm and true to the end. Dr. House, 
in his journal, carefully records the details of the call: 


“His Royal Highness was somewhat unwell, but he 
would come down. A servant was sent to ask if we 
would not take some refreshments. Soon a plate of 
stone-fruit was presented, resembling in flavour our 
peach; also a plate of Chinese cakes, white and thin, 
with a bowl of dark Chinese jelly and sugar. Knife, 
three-pronged fork and teaspoon were brought and we 
made an excellent tiffin. 

“T looked around the room; Bible from A. B. Society, 
and Webster dictionary stood side by side on a shelf of 
his secretary, also a Nautical Tables and Navigation. 
On the table a diagram of the forthcoming eclipse in 
pencil with calculations, and a copy of the printed chart 
of Mr. Chandler.... 

“This man, if his life is spared, is destined to exert an 
all-powerful influence upon the destinies of this people. 
He must possess a vigour of mind and much energy of 
purpose thus to commence the study of a new language 
at the age of forty. Indeed he seems Cato-like in other 
things. ... 

“Soon the Prince-Priest appeared with two or three 
following, dressed in yellow silk robes worn as a Roman 
toga. His manners were rather awkward at intro- 
duction, and his appearance not prepossessing at first, 


54 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


though we became more interested in him as we saw 
him more, He seated himself on a chair by the center 
table, and asked our names and ages and whether mar- 
ried. Wished to know if I could cure sick as Dr. Brad- 
ley did. Whether I could cure the dropsy, for there was 
a case in the watt. He understands English when he 
reads it, but cannot speak it well yet. 

“We asked to see his printing room; several young 
priests and servants on bamboo settees folding books. 
One composing type, one correcting proof. They gave 
us a copy of a book published in the Prince’s new Pali 
alphabet—it was the Buddhist ten commandments and 
comments on them. Mr. Caswell had previously told him 
of the present of a keg of printing ink we had for him 
from our friend G. W. Eddy, of Waterford. He asked 
who it was from, and if ‘they had heard of him in 
America’; and was evidently well pleased to find that he 
was known. Upon taking leave, he promised to call in 
return upon his guests in a few days.” 


This call of the new missionaries was returned by 
the priest, and on several occasions afterwards he 
visited the Doctor in his house. Occasionally he 
would send notes by his servants requesting various 
favours, medical attendance upon inmates of the watt, 
loan of books. On a second visit, when Dr. House 
went to engage the services of a young priest as in- . 
structor in Siamese, the prince proposed that the 
Doctor should come over to the watt and make use of 
the room which Mr. Caswell occupied for his class in 
English, and “there distribute medicines and teach 
the young men of the watt how to be doctors.” 
Among the papers of Dr. House was found an auto- 
graph letter in English written by Chao Fah Yai about 
this time inviting him and the other missionaries to 
attend a cremation ceremony at watt Thong Bang- 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 55 


koknoi; and offering him the privilege of distributing 
religious books among the head priests assembled 
there from several watts and to preach to them on the 
new religion. On other visits he inquired about 
the new instrument that “would send intelligence 
quickly ” (the telegraph), asked why American ves- 
sels so seldom came to Bangkok, and discussed the 
difference between the Latin and English Bibles. 

In proper sequence of courtesy the new mission- 
aries were taken to call upon the other prince, Chao 
Fah Noi. For some reason this prince had withdrawn 
from his former intercourse with foreigners, but he 
very courteously received the callers and was mani- 
festly pleased with the attention. He, too, was inter- 
ested in Western learning and especially inclined 
towards the physical sciences. On the palace grounds 
he had several shops, one for a forge, one for iron 
lathes, one for wood-working. Power for all this 
machinery was developed by slave-muscle. In one 
room was a working model of a steam engine, two 
and a half feet long, made entirely by. the prince’s 
own hands. Being somewhat unwell he consulted Dr. 
House, but explained that he was under the King’s 
physician and to refuse to take his medicine would be 
an act of disrespect to His Majesty, and for that 
reason would not ask Dr. House to prescribe for him. 

The acquaintance thus formed was used, at first, by 
the prince more as a means of securing personal in- 
struction on physical sciences. Frequently servants 
were sent to Dr. House to borrow books or to ask for 
advice on chemistry, electricity, photography, lithog- 
raphy and kindred subjects ; and on various occasions 
the doctor was summoned to the prince’s palace only 


56 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


to find that his assistance or instruction was desired 
in some experiment. In after years, however, when 
Chao Fah Noi had become Vice-King upon the acces- 
sion of Mongkut, his intercourse with Dr. House 
rested more upon the basis of friendship. 


SCIENCE AND RELIGION 


The acquaintance thus conventionally begun was 
quickened in mutual interest in an unexpected man- 
ner. When Dr. House reached Siam he found that 
the Baptist Mission press had for some time been pub- 
lishing an annual almanac. He perceived that these 
almanacs were not only accepted by the ordinary peo- 
ple as they would accept Scripture tracts, but that 
they were eagerly sought after by a small number of 
nobles who were interested in Western science. These 
men were surprised to find that the eclipse for 1847 
was much more accurately forecasted in this almanac 
than by their own astrologers, and they were eager to 
discuss the subject of astronomy. 

This observation together with his own interest in 
science led him, in September of his first year, to in- 
stitute a series of lectures for the benefit of the ser- 
vants and employes of the mission compound “in 
hopes of waking up their dormant minds and accus- 
tom them to think, and so be a little benefitted by the 
preaching on the Sabbaths ; as well as to impart useful 
information and to set before them the great proof of 
the existence and wisdom of the Creator, a funda- 
mental truth all Buddhists deny.” The doctor was to 
furnish the outlines and perform the experiments 
while Mr. Caswell, experienced in the language, was 
to do the talking. There was a fair equipment at 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 57 


hand: chemicals, a magnetic machine, a globe, a set of 
physiological and hygienic charts and a skeleton. 

The first lecture was on the digestion of food and 
the effects of alcohol on the stomach. The audience 
showed their attention and interest by responding with 
questions. After the lectures on physiology came sev- 
eral on astronomical topics such as the eclipse of the 
moon, phases of the moon and relation to the tides; 
then followed several on the gases. On the occasion 
of the first lecture on the gases, it so happened that 
Godata, a priest from Chao Fah Yai’s watt, happened 
to call on Mr. Caswell and was invited to witness the 
experiment. The demonstration opened a new world 
for him. What he saw was too wonderful to keep to 
himself; he spread abroad his report and the effect 
was immediate. 

The first to respond was Prince Ammaruk, the 
favourite son of the king, who requested the privi- 
lege of watching the doctor create the wonderful 
“winds.” On the day appointed for the special ex- 
periment, Chao Fah Yai sent a request for Dr. House 
to accompany him that evening to call upon a brother 
prince who was quite ill. In reply the doctor ex- 
plained his engagement for the evening, but offered to 
make the call after the demonstration, and suggested 
that the Priest-Prince might himself like to witness 
the experiment. To the doctor’s surprise, the Priest- 
Prince came early in the afternoon to take the doctor 
to see the patient, so that they might have the whole 
evening free for the experiments. At the palace, 
Chao Fah Yai explained the evening’s entertainment 
to the royal physician (a brother of the king) who 
promptly invited himself. By arrangement with 


58 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Prince Ammaruk several others were to come, so 
that at the appointed time the small house was filled 
with nobles and princes, and the verandah with 
their servants. Fortunately the experiments went 
off successfully ; oxygen was generated and iron was 
burned in the oxygen; hydrogen was generated 
from water and exploded in combination with oxy- 
gen. Chao Fah Yai was particularly enthusiastic, 
and called in from the verandah some of his men to 
see the wonders, and himself volunteered to explain 
the facts to them. | 
The series of lectures awakened widespread interest 
among the progressive nobles. Dr. House became a 
notable in their esteem. Nearly all of the group who 
were present on that evening were amateur scientists ; 
they had the air pump, the electric machine and other 
physical apparatus, but of chemistry they had no idea. 
Shortly after this Chao Fah Noi, who had been keep- 
ing aloof from foreigners, sent a request for Dr. 
House to spend the evening at his palace and instruct 
him in the making of gases. How long the series of 
lectures continued is not apparent; the journal con- 
tinues reference to them while they are novel, but they 
apparently continued throughout that winter. Other 
subjects named were “The Weight. of the Atmos- 
phere,” “The Barometer,” “ Heat,” “The Oxy- 
hydrogen Blow Pipe,” “Carbon and Carbonic Gas,” 
“Electro-magnetic ‘Telegraph,’ and “ Electricity.” 
The original purpose of instruction for the servants 
was outgrown, and week after week one or more of 
the nobles who were dabbling in science were present 
with their ubiquitous train of servants. From this 
time on the journal indicates that the doctor’s instruc- 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 59 


tion in the Bible classes took the form of “ Evidences 
of Natural and Revealed Religion.” 

The popular interest, however, was directed to- 
wards a particular subject, the skeleton. Very quickly 
news of this strange possession spread abroad, and 
every few days in season and out of season visitors 
would call and, scarcely able to restrain their inquisi- 
tiveness during the preliminary courtesies, hasten to 
request a sight of the skeleton. Even some of the 
ladies became interested in this curiosity; and one day 
a woman of rank, with half a dozen attendants and a 
train of servants, came with a request to see the skele- 
ton. Long after local curiosity had subsided, chance 
callers from distant provinces would come to see this 
object of nation wide gossip. 

Very remarkable, the skeleton itself did not seem to 
make so profound an impression upon these minds as 
the “argument from design” which their instructor 
deduced from the human anatomy to prove the ex- 
istence of a Creator. Female curiosity also called for 
demonstrations with the electrical machine. During 
the reign of the old king some of the ladies of the 
palace had a prince arrange for Dr. House to bring to 
the prince’s palace the machine which could make 
“fi fi” (fire from the sky), that they might see the 
marvel. The doctor, of course, was not permitted to 
enter the presence of the king’s women, so he had to 
instruct the prince in the method of operation. 


BOND OF INTEREST 
An unexpected result of these lectures was that a 
bond of mutual interest was established between Dr. 
House and this group of progressive nobles, the very 


60 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


party which in a few years dominated the new gov- 
ernment of Siam. It would be interesting for one 
who knew the official entourage of King Mongkut to 
note how many of his supporters were included in this 
number who made Dr. House their friend because of 
his interest in science. Since Siamese noblemen were 
known by titles rather than by family names and since 
these titles change through elevation to higher rank 
only one acquainted with a person at a particular rank 
could identify these men with accuracy. 

However the following are frequently mentioned in 
Dr. House’s journal as showing a friendly attitude to 
him, and most of them interested in Western science. 
In the régime which began in 1851 his friends were: 
the king, the vice-king, the prime minister, the 
commander-in-chief, the minister of foreign affairs, 
the minister of home affairs, the treasurer of the king- 
dom. In the régime of Chulalongkorn, which began 
1868, his special friends were: The second king, the 
regent, the minister of foreign affairs, the master of 
the mint, the commander-in-chief, and the court chap- 
lain. Besides these were several princes and nobles 
who did not occupy particular offices. Several of 
these men had primitive laboratories or workshops for | 
experiments. 

The series of lectures started such a revival of in- 
terest in scientific matters among them that Dr. House 
soon found himself the frequent host of several 
princes and nobles, seeking instruction in all sorts of 
subjects; and he was on yarious occasions invited to 
their shops to inspect their work or elucidate some 
obscure difficulty, as though he were a peripatetic pro- 
fessor. He was even seriously troubled by the bor- 


WITH ROYALTY AND OFFICIALS 61 


rowing of books and instruments which they were not 
all punctilious to return. Moreover, he found himself 
an agent of some of these men, ordering machinery 
and supplies and tools from America for their use. 

Chao Fah Noi said to him confidentially that any 
one who wanted to do something new in those days 
must do it in secret, for if the king learned of their 
activities he would call upon them to work for him so 
as to keep them from pursuing investigations. This 
prince, however, was not altogether secret in his ex- 
periments, for under date of July 4, 1848, Dr. House 
writes: 


“This am., we saw something new on the river—a 
little model steamboat, not twenty feet long, with 
smoke-pipe, paddle wheel, all complete, steaming bravely 
against the tide, with H. R. H. Chao Fah Noi sitting at 
the helm. It was the first native steamer on the Meinam, 
entirely his own construction.” 


But not for one moment did Dr. House lose sight 
of his prime objective. The favour of princes was no 
reward in itself; he was always concerned for the in- 
fluence he might exercise through his contact with 
men of power: 


“ How taken with the new science is the Prince (Chao 
Fah Noi). Oh, that acquaintance and opportunity given 
me with him may be improved to win and turn him from 
his trust in false gods and rites! He has a good mind.” 


Not a lecture, scarcely a conversation, on science but 
Dr. House sought to point out the unanswerable argu- 
ment from “ design in nature” as a proof of a Cre- 
ator and of the truth of Christianity. To some, the 


62 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


revelations of nature through science became also the 
revelations of a Divinity. 


“ Brother Chandler spoke of a person (Godata) who 
after attending the chemical lectures last year, seeing evi- 
dence of wisdom and goodness in the composition of air 
and water, said ‘ There must be a God—there must be.’ ” 


This same Godata it was who became chaplain to the 
army under King Chulalongkorn. 

A study of Dr. House’s journal seems to justify the 
assertion that his most far-reaching influence upon 
the mission work was through his relations with these 
progressive members of the nobility. It is even within 
a margin of safety to affirm that his influence was not 
exceeded by that of any other man up to the time of 
his retirement. This opinion does not underestimate 
such men as Rev. Jesse Caswell, Rev. Daniel B. Brad- 
ley, M.D., and Rev. Stephen Mattoon, whose labours 
also were pivotal in the development of missions in 
Siam. It only so happened that the association of Dr. 
House with the officials of the new government was 
more continuous in its bearing upon the work. Hav- 
ing gained their sympathy through his practise of 
medicine, and enlarged their interest through his 
knowledge of science, he won their complete confi- 
dence by his sterling character. When later these 
men, having obtained chief power in the government, 
turned to him for counsel in international affairs or 
when he went to them in behalf of the mission they 
knew that his judgment was fair and free from ul- 
terior motive. During nearly the entire period of his 
service he was a valuable friend of the Siamese gov- 
ernment and a wise advocate of the mission at court. 


V 


LENGTHENING CORDS AND STRENGTH- 
ENING STAKES 


science was to show the value of Western 

education in such a way as to create a de- 
mand for the educational work of the mission. Not 
satisfied with their own enlightenment several of these 
progressive nobles requested Dr. House to tutor their 
sons in English with a view to instruction in science. 
As early as 1847, before the doctor himself could 
devote time to such work, Mrs. Mattoon had under- 
taken to tutor Kuhn Gnu, the son of the Praklang. 

While at the tract house one day the doctor caught a 
glimpse of the desire and capacity of the common peo- 
ple for learning. A boy applied for a book. Knowing 
that the lad had received one the previous day, the 
doctor began to catechise him on that volume before 
giving him another. He was surprised to find that in 
a day’s time the boy had mastered the details of the 
story of Elijah. Upon this the doctor observes: 
“ Now this is in effect, as far as it goes, a school and 
a Christian school, where more knowledge is imparted 
perhaps than would be in a regular school.” 

Under the régime of the old king no regular school 
was possible, not only because the monarch was an- 
tipathetic to western ideas but because the Siamese 
had no common desire for education, 


63 


. DIRECT effect of this growing interest in 


64 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“Tt is next to impossible to interest the native Siamese 
in education, because it is the custom for all boys to 
enter a watt as novitiates for the priesthood, and as 
such are taught to read; but to read is the limit of their 
ambition.” 


The quickening of an interest in science among the 
upper classes proved to be the awakening of some of 
the younger generation to the desirableness of a 
broader education than the priests ever thought of 
giving. | 

The first mention of a school as a proposed depart- 
ment of the mission occurs as an entry in the journal 
on the first anniversary of the arrival in Siam, when 
the doctor records briefly: “ Plans for interesting and 
instructing the young Siamese were discussed.” 

Looking back over the course of affairs it is appar- 
ent that the embryo of the mission school was the 
receiving of some children into the homes of the mis- 
sionaries to be taught, while assisting in house work. 
As early as 1848 Mrs. Mattoon, with an eagerness to 
do something to elevate the condition of child-life, © 
succeeded in obtaining two girls for this purpose, one 
of whom she named Nancy, after her own mother, 
and one Abby, after the mother of Dr. House. Later 
another was added, whom she named Esther. 3 

In the next year Dr. House had apprenticed to him 
a Chinese lad of thirteen named Ati, the nephew of 
his Hainanese laundryman. The boy was bound for — 
a period of three years, during which he was to act as 
a house servant in return for instruction in English. 
As a matter of fact this boy remained in connection 
with the mission for a much longer period. The part 
played by these children was not simply a demonstra- 


LENGTHENING CORDS 65 


tion of their capacity for a Western education but, 
even more importantly, they formed a nucleus around 
which to organise a formal school later. Until time 
was ripe for such an undertaking the missionaries 
could only try in the most experimental way to de- 
velop interest in education among the common people 
with whom they came into more intimate contact. 

Although Dr. House fitted himself for the medical 
profession, he found that by taste and aptitude he was 
essentially a teacher. His fixed purpose was to im- 
part to the Siamese the Christian truth about God and 
about salvation, confident that this truth would 
awaken the sleeping conscience. His discontent with 
his profession was to a large extent because it hin- 
dered him from the more direct propagation of the 
Gospel. Observation early disclosed to him, what 
other educators had discerned elsewhere, that the 
chief obstacle to the consideration of the spiritual 
message of Christianity was the false cosmogony as 
held by the people. 

Their idea of the universe was based upon a total 
ignorance of many common facts of nature, an igno- 
rance which completely excluded from their minds the 
idea of a spiritual God. They were so obsessed with 
fallacies about natural phenomena that there was but 
small common basis of physical knowledge upon 
which the missionaries could build an argument to 
dispose of these grotesque ideas. For instance, the 
popular explanation of a lunar eclipse was that a great 
dragon was trying to swallow the moon. When an 
eclipse occurred, the people would set up a din of 
kettles and drums to scare away the dragon. Since 
the moon always escaped, the people were the more 


66 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


confirmed in their belief. Then there was the old 
notion of the earth being flat. In the midst of the 
earth was a great central mountain, whence Buddha 
had come, surrounded by a vast plain; and inasmuch 
as Siam occupied the middle of this plain, obviously 
there could be no other greater country. Before truth 
could penetrate such an armour of ignorance, it was 
necessary that nature be stripped of these false ascrip- 
tions in order that there might be a common ground 
upon which to consider the arguments for the Chris- 
tian faith. 

In the presentation of Dr. House’s message there 
can be traced an orderly philosophy which reflects this 
situation. First he sought to remove some of these 
false ideas by pointing out common facts of nature 
which the natives had never observed. Next he 
sought to explain the conception of God as Creator. 
From this he led on to the love and mercy of God as 
revealed by Jesus. As a practical sequence he aimed 
to give an elementary education to the few who would © 
receive it so as to demonstrate the Christian way of 
life. This meant in the course of time the develop- 
ment of a system of education. 


SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS 


Dr. House was peculiarly fitted for this work, for 
he had been providentially prepared to draw upon a - 
wide range of scientific instruction. His years at 
Rensselaer Institute had developed his taste for nat- 
ural philosophy and had given him a lifelong interest 
in the progress of science. His study of medicine had 
qualified him in practical chemistry, while his few 
years of teaching gave him needed experience in 


LENGTHENING CORDS 67 


laboratory demonstrations. While trying some ex- 
periments with gas in Siam he recalls “ occasions of 
the same kind at Rensselaer school and in the Virginia 
school.” Busy as he was, he managed to keep abreast 
of scientific progress through the journals of science, 
and was forward to adopt new ideas as he found 
them. In March, 1847, he writes: 


“In evening read account of inhaling ether as a means 
of enabling one to perform surgical operations without 
pain to the patient. A wonderful discovery truly—in- 
estimable in its benefit to the suffering of our race— 
and the author of it was an American.” 


At the first opportunity he applied the new idea to a 
patient in surgery: 


“Old woman of eighty-four; piece of bamboo eight 
inches had entered her flesh, remaining still unextracted. 
O, how I wished I had an apparatus for inhaling ether 
—I prepared an extempore one.” 


In 1851 he reads of “a new way devised in Paris 
by suspending a pendulum from high dome to trace 
and render visible the motion of the earth on its 
axis’; and after a private experiment, straightway he 
makes the demonstration for his science-loving Siam- 
ese friends. 

Like many missionaries, Dr. House was a student 
of nature, contributing to other scholars his observa- 
tions. He was a member of the “ American Oriental 
Society.” He was a correspondent of the naturalist, 
Mr. John C. Bowring, at Hong Kong, son of the dip- 
lomat, for whom he undertook to collect and forward 


68 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


specimens of Siamese insects and shells; and in this 
pursuit he became the discoverer of two varieties of 
shells previously unknown to naturalists, to which his 
name has been given, “ Cyclostoria Housei” and 
“ Spiraculum Housei.” In his volume on Siam, Mr. 
George B. Bacon, speaking of the flora and fauna of 
Siam, remarks: 


“The work of scientific observation and classification 
has been, as yet, only imperfectly accomplished. Much 
has been done by the missionaries, especially by Dr. 
House, of the American Presbyterian Mission, who is a 
competent scientific observer.” 


In his modesty he was surprised to find that his 
activities in this line were known in Europe. Dining 
at the Prussian Embassy at Bangkok, in 1862, he was 
introduced to the son of Chevalier Bunsen, who re- 
marked that “ he had heard of Dr. House in Europe; 
he has given his name to a new species of shell; he 
was the first to make Siamese shells known to the 
world.” When Dr. Lane left Siam, in 1855, Dr. 
House took over from him and continued the 
meteorological observations because “it may be valu- 
able by-and-by for the Siamese.” On one occasion he. 
had a bit of amusing chagrin in trying to determine 
the elevation of a mountain. He had constructed a 
new thermometer for himself and proposed to esti- 
mate the altitude by ascertaining the boiling point. 
After carefully explaining the theory to his native 
companions, placing the kettle on the fire, he eagerly 
watched for the first sign of boiling. To his astonish- 
ment the thermometer indicated that the chosen posi- 
tion, instead of being several hundred feet above the 


LENGTHENING CORDS 69 


sea, must be many feet down below the earth’s sur- 
face—and then he discovered that there was a fault 
in his thermometer. 


EARLY TOURS 


For his eagerness to lengthen the reach of his arm 
and to extend the range of his voice, Dr. House found 
some satisfaction in occasional tours into the sur- 
rounding country. These were at once a relief from 
the exacting daily routine of the dispensary, a phys- 
ical recreation, and an exploration of the regions 
seldom visited by Europeans. The first trip of any 
distance was made in company with Rev. Jesse Cas- 
well during February, 1848, when the two took a 
ten day trip through the canals eastward to Petrui 
on the Bang Pakong River. In the next Novem- 
ber, with Rev. Asa Hemmenway, he toured for a 
week to the west up the Meklong, with Rapri as the 
turning point. 

These early journeys were veritable explorations. 
The boatmen seldom knew the country more than two 
days’ distance from the capital. The doctor, in real 
explorer fashion, picked up in advance what little in- 
formation he could, sketched rude maps and then on 
the journey directed or verified the course of the boat 
with a pocket compass. His technical knowledge 
served to great advantage. For future use, he records 
the directions by compass reading, the rate of speed 
and the distances as shown by the log, and notes 
natural objects which serve as landmarks. His skill 
at map making having ‘been disclosed, some of the 
state officials requested him to draw, for their use, 
maps of the regions explored; and in discussing these 


70 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


with them he found that the officials were almost 
totally ignorant of the topography of the king’s do- 
main away from the main water courses. 

As these tours were all conducted on the same gen- 
eral plan, the description of one will suffice for all. A 
native long-boat was used, having a low cylindrical 
canopy of matting at the center to afford some pro- 
tection from the sun. A crew of six or eight men 
would man the oars, or push with poles in shallow 
canals or in the rapids. The travelling ordinarily 
would begin before daybreak; during the heat of the 
day the party would stop for meals and for rest; then 
late in the afternoon the voyage would be resumed, 
continuing till dark. If out over Sunday the travellers 
were scrupulous to observe the day; seeking, if pos- 
sible, a desirable location for the day of rest, but 
sometimes tying up in disagreeable places rather than 
push on in the early hours of the Sabbath. 

The watts, or temple grounds, ubiquitous in the 
country, serve as caravansaries for travellers; their 
roofs and trees offering free shelter for wayfarers. 
As these watts were also the seats of learning, the 
missionaries always found an opportunity to present 
their printed page and to engage in conversation on 
religion. Books were offered to all met with along 
the way; to the fishermen seeking their game in the 
early morning hours, to the women working in the rice 
fields, to the labourers at the sugar presses, to the 
farmers in their garden patches, to the villagers in the 
hamlets through which they so frequently passed, and 
to the priests and novitiates at the watts. Some were 
too busy to bother with the proffered gift; some would 
accept with passive interest; some would accept with 


LENGTHENING CORDS ae 


marked interest and open a fire of questions. Still 
others, after discovering the nature of the gift re- 
ceived by their friends would pursue the voyagers, 
and swim out to the boat in eagerness for a book. 
Time did not suffice to enter into conversation, for the 
purpose was to scatter the seed as far as possible, so 
the boat would keep under way while packages were 
cast out on the land or into passing boats. At the 
noon stop, if natives did not gather around as usual, 
the doctor would start off to the nearest hamlet with 
a bag of books, sheltering himself under a large um- 
brella. Then would ensue the familiar yet ever differ- 
ent conversation about the Gospel. 


TO PETCHABURI 


After he became familiar with the methods, the 
doctor was ready to make long tours, once freed from 
the restricting cares of the dispensary. The married 
men did not find it convenient to leave their wives and 
young children for a long period so that this work 
was largely taken up by the doctor, who gained a 
keen relish for it. In December, 1848, accompanied 
by Mr. and Mrs. Mattoon, Dr. House set out with two 
boats for Petchaburi, the capital of the province by 
that name on the western peninsula. The trip had 
several points of interest. 

In the first place the Lieutenant-Governor of the 
province had come to Dr. House for medical treat- 
ment a few months after his arrival; and being 
pleased with his treatment, invited the doctor to come 
to Petchaburi. Upon his recommendation the Gov- 
ernor of the province also, while in Bangkok, came to 
the mission house, curious to see the skeleton which 


72 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


the doctor had. The Governor manifested such an 
interest and friendliness that Dr. House resolved to 
visit the provincial capital and discover the possibili- 
ties of mission work. Arriving at Petchaburi, they 
called upon the two officials and offered to them gifts 
of foreign articles. When they were about to leave 
for home, the officials in return sent very generous 
presents of fruit and sugar to their boats. In later 
years the under governor, having been promoted, 
made earnest solicitation for the missionaries to teach 
English in his capital, and as an inducement offered 
freedom to teach religion. 

Another item of interest was of a different sort. 
Having learned that the original home of the Siamese 
twins was in the village of Meklong, near the head of 
the Gulf of Siam, the Americans sought out the fam- 
ily. They found only one brother living there, and 
learned that a sister was living in Bangkok, while the 
mother had died a year previously. ‘The brother ex- 
pressed a longing to see his brothers again or to hear 
from them; and at the doctor’s own suggestion he 
wrote a letter to the absent twins, dictated by the 
brother. It told of the pious wish of the dying mother 
for them “to do merit for her spirit.” Some years | 
later, when Rev. Daniel McGilvray visited the twins 
in their home in South Carolina, they spoke of re- 
ceiving this letter. 


TO PRABAT 
In the winter of 1849 Dr. House and Mr. Hemmen- 
way made a trip to Prabat, about one hundred miles 
to the northeast of the capital. This place is the site 
of a watt erected over an imprint in the rock, reputed 


LENGTHENING CORDS 73 


to have been made by the footstep of Buddha. At 
that particular season of the year multitudes come 
from all parts of the kingdom to do homage to this 
“shadow ” of Buddha. The doctor gives quite a de- 
tailed description of his experiences: 


“A rocky mount, covered with a pagoda, rose before 
us to the height of three hundred to four hundred feet. 
On a lower elevation in front of this peak is the famous 
foot print; over which stands a very beautiful tho ex- 
cessively ornamented structure, with elegant pillars on 
a side supporting a pagoda-like gilded roof, towering up 
seven stories, gracefully diminishing till they terminated 
in a handsome golden spire. On a rocky summit on the 
left stood a small pagoda, and on the right a higher emi- 
nence was crowned with a similar sightly structure. Be- 
fore it was a long flight of stone steps leading up to the 
platform on which it stood. We ascended these steps, 
crossed a little court, entered another a little higher— 
and without ceremony entered the half-open door of the 
sanctuary before we were forbidden. Had we delayed a 
moment perhaps we should have lost the opportunity and 
had the gates closed against us. But we were in and. 
made as good use of our eyes as we could during the 
few moments we were allowed to continue. More than 
one voice was raised in the silence that had prevailed 
within, saying to us we must go out, go out, or else kneel 
down and worship. One man with an air of authority 
came up and took us by the shoulder, ordering us 
roughly to take off our hats and shoes. So we went out. 

“But we had seen the grave-like opening at the bot- 
tom of which the sacred footstep is said to be, though 
covered as it was with broad pieces of gold leaf and 
cloth of gold, and women kneeling low before it in an 
attitude of profound homage. The pavement of the 
room is of solid silver, the square blocks smoothly pol- 
ished by the votaries as they pass in and out on knees. 
The foot-step is said to receive annually a great amount 


74 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


of gold, while offerings of rings and other articles of 
value are thrown into the opening not infrequently.” 


Leaving the sanctuary the visitors climbed on up to 
the top of the hill to survey the country. Returning, 
Dr. House became separated from his companion; 
and as he approached the scene of the fabled foot- 
print, he stopped to look at the elegant pagoda. Soon 
a crowd gathered around him, and in answer to a 
priest he explained why they had not worshiped 
before the footprint. Some were wondering at his 
garments; others were wondering at the unheard-of 
boldness in resolutely keeping on a hat while on holy 
ground. While he was talking, a rude push from 
someone behind and then yells from a hundred throats 
gave a threatening aspect to the situation. Fortu- 
nately, at that critical moment, a Bangkok priest, an 
old acquaintance, recognised him and was not afraid 
to come to the rescue. He then withdrew in safety, 
and finding Mr. Hemmenway, the two returned to 


their elephants and took up the journey to the boats. © 


In the narrative of this trip Dr. House records having 
come upon a boy of about fourteen years, born with- 
out arms or legs, but perfect in other respects. ‘The 
arm-bone was projected about four inches, covered 
with skin, calloused at the end from use. The boy 
could not raise or feed himself, but could make slight 


change of position by rotating alternately on each — 


thigh. 

A number of tours were taken in the dry seasons of 
"49 and ’50. One through inland waterways to the 
Bang Pakong River and thence northward above 
Nakonnayok, meeting many Lao people living on the 





LENGTHENING CORDS 75 


river-bottom farm lands. Another to a point some 
two hundred miles up the Meinam, and a year later 
yet another trip was made as far as Paknampo, some 
three hundred miles up the same stream, and thence 
two days’ journey up the right fork of the Meinam. 


VI 


CHOLERA COMES BUT THE DOCTOR 
CARRIES ON 


came in 1849, when Rev. Stephen Bush and 

his wife arrived. Mr. Bush had been a col- 
lege mate of Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon, and he 
came from Sandy Hill (now Hudson Falls), N. Y., 
the home town of the Mattoons. This little company 
of Christian men and women now decided to organise 
a church as a bond of fellowship and for the orderly 
administration of the sacraments. When it is con- 
sidered that they had not yet won a single convert 
from either the natives or the Chinese, it is a remark- 
able testimony to their faith that they should have 
taken this step in anticipation of the future harvest. 
Dr. House records this action in his journal under © 
date of Aug. 31, 1849: 


i es first recruits for the Presbyterian work 


“ After tea we had a meeting of the members of the 
mission, and with all due solemnity organised a Pres- 
byterian church in Bangkok, by the election of Rev. 
Stephen Mattoon as our pastor, and S. R. H. [Doctor 
House] as ruling elder. Brother Mattoon as senior © 
member of the mission presided, reading at the opening 
of the meeting the first chapter of Revelation, that intro- 
duces the address to the seven churches of Asia by their 
Glorious Head. 

“In the name of the Great Head of the Church we, 
a little band of five, united together in a separate church 


76 


CHOLERA COMES 77 


organization, the beginning of great things we hope— 
the germ of the tree that shall overshadow the land. 
The lay members of this infant church were S. R. 
House, Mrs. Stephen Mattoon, and Mrs. Stephen Bush.” 
[Mr. Mattoon and Mr. Bush being clergymen were not 
eligible to membership in a local church.] 


At the first communion of the new church, held on 
Sept. 30, a Chinese Christian was received: 


“In the evening at a meeting of the Church Session 
Quasien Kieng, the native member of the A. B. C. F. M. 
mission church (received by Messrs, Johnson and Peet 
on January 7, 1844) was received into our membership 
on certificate of recommendation from the pastor, Rev. 
A. Hemmenway. An interesting occasion to us. A 
worthy brother, this Chinese disciple; may his wife and 
many others come in with and through him.” 


This Chinese Christian, whose name is spelled vari- 
ously in the doctor’s journal and elsewhere, was 
Kee-Eng Sinsay Quasien, who served as the first 
Chinese teacher in the boys’ school and who became 
the grandfather of Boon Itt, concerning whom more 
notice will appear later. Up to this time, so far as 
records show, there had been no genuine converts 
from among the Siamese in any of the missions. 
There had, however, been several from among the 
Chinese. Indeed when the king was urged to take 
action against the first missionaries he replied: “ Let 
them alone; no one will give heed to them except 
the Chinese.” The first convert from among the 
Chinese sojourners in Siam was Boon Tai, who 
had come under the personal influence of Dr. Gutz- 
laff previous to 1831. A few others were converted 


78 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


under the teaching of transient missionaries, and 
then came Mr. Dean, who established the first church 
of Chinese. 


THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC oF 1849 


One day, in 1849, the startling news reached the 
mission compound that cholera had appeared in 
Bangkok. ‘The plague spread very rapidly; almost 
simultaneously it appeared everywhere in the city. 
The very first notice of the presence of the pestilence 
that came to the doctor was the news that the Siamese 
printer connected with the Baptist mission had been 
stricken without any premonitory symptoms and died 
within a few hours. 


“As may be imagined consternation seized upon ali 
classes. The native doctors fled from their patients. 
Everywhere propitiatory offerings were made to the 
spirits, the people generally believing the pestilence to 
be caused by the invasion of an army of cruel malicious 
demons who had come invisibly to seize mankind and 
make them their slaves. And in accordance with this . 
theory the preventative most relied on was a strand of 
cotton yarns, blessed by the Buddhist priests, which, tied 
about the necks or wrists, it was thought the invisible 
army could not pass. A cordon of such yarn hung looped. 
from battlement to battlement entirely around the royal 
palace, a mile in circumference. ... 

“ Awakened at day break by a Chinaman in a floating 
house across the river firing off crackers to propitiate 
his god. Met a Chinaman well-dressed, carrying a 
square frame on which little banners, red and white, 
some rice and fruit, little new-made clay images of men 
and animals, with little rags around them, red peppers, 
betel leaf and nuts ready for chewing, the end of an old 
torch—all laid down at a place where a dozen other sich 
offerings to the spirits were placed.” 


CHOLERA COMES 79 


With such preventives as the sole protection against 
the cholera it is no wonder that the plague spread like 
wildfire. It was no respecter of persons—a dowager 
in the palace, a prince of Cambodia, a wealthy Hindu 
merchant were victims like the most wretched natives. 
The mortality was so inclusive that in many a house 
there were more dead than living; and in some in- 
stances the remnant of a family would abandon the 
house with its horde of corpses. Many of the mission 
servants and members of their families were attacked, 
and some of these sent in great haste for Dr. House. 
From early morning, all through the day, far into the 
night he visited the sick. 

Terrifying as the plague itself was, the fear of 
death was almost eclipsed by the revolting disposal 
of the dead: 


“You know it is the Siamese custom to burn their 
dead, but so fearfully did deaths multiply that a shorter 
mode of disposal was resorted to, and multitudes of 
corpses were thrown without ceremony, as you would 
throw the carcass of a dog into the river. These dead 
bodies could be seen any day floating back and forth 
with the tide before our doors, in all stages of putrefac- 
tion—on some of them crows perched, picking away at 
their horrid feast. 

.Go where you would through the streets, we would 
meet men bearing away the dead, hastily tied up in a 
coarse mat. The Siamese make loud lamentation at the 
moment of the death of friends, and as one would pass 
along it was no uncommon thing to hear the voice of 
wailing from this house and that. Once on my way to 
see a patient, the voice of one crying in great distress in- 
duced me to enter the little bamboo dwelling, whence the 
cry proceeded; and there on the mat-covered platform 
of a gambler’s shop (for such it was) sat a middle-aged 


80 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Chinaman with his head against the wall, sobbing at a 
piteous rate. He took no notice of my entrance; but, 
telling his only comrade that I was a doctor, I stepped up 
to him to feel his pulse, but he was pulseless and his 
limbs cold as stone—the hand of death was upon him. 
And I went on my way leaving him all heedless of my 
coming, crying bitterly as before. 

“The most revolting spectacles were at the watts 
where Siamese custom requires the dead to be brought 
for burning or interment till burning is possible... . 
I have seen in one of these gehennas hundreds of loath- 
some corpses in every stage of putrefaction lying around 
unburied, unburned just where the hirelings that brought 
them or their friends, too poor to pay the expense of 
their burning, might throw them down—the hot sun and 
the rain doing its work awfully. ... My own eyes have 
seen of such human carcasses, sixty thrown together in 
one huge pile with sufficiency of wood and over thirty in 
a smaller one near, all roasting, frying and burning to 
ashes with a thick black smoke going up from the dread- 
ful pyre; with skull bones, legs half consumed, arms 
stiff in death projecting on this side and that as the pile 
settled down, till the men in charge with long poles 
would thrust and twist them back into the blazing heap. 
All day long, from an area of nearly an acre covered 
with the ashes of other freshly burned victims of the 
pestilence, would be continually going up the flames of 
scores of individual funeral piles; and this not on the 
grounds of one temple only, but from a dozen here and 
there about the city. And then when evening came, 
with the night air would be wafted to us such an un- 
mistakable odor of burning flesh and singeing hair and 
bones.” 


In the midst of his heroic labours, Dr. House awoke 
one morning with what he felt to be the symptoms of 
the cholera, and for a time he had dire thoughts of a 
certain and speedy death; but instant resort to his ef- 


CHOLERA COMES 81 


fective prescription and a quiet rest in bed for two 
days averted the threatened disease. Then he 
promptly resumed attendance upon patients. When 
it is considered that his professional services were 
sought in only a few instances, chiefly among the 
friends of the mission servants, and that his own ag- 
gressive zeal increased the number of patients treated 
by him, the heroism of his conduct stands out in bold 
relief. Even though there was no place of refuge for 
the missionaries, had it been possible for them to flee, 
yet their greatest security was to remain in such isola- 
tion as possible within their premises. But Dr. 
House’s eagerness to save the lives of men that they 
might have a further chance to hear the Gospel im- 
pelled him to risk his own life to minister to every 
victim who would receive his services. 

Concerning the prescription used during this epi- 
demic, Dr. House published a report of his experi- 
ments, while in America in 1865, when there was 
prospect of an outbreak of Asiatic cholera in the 
United States. At first he began with the common 
prescription of the medical books of that date; then 
he turned to the use of calomel in very large doses, 
with better results; later he says that he hit upon the 
use of a mixture of spirits of camphor and water 
taken every few minutes and found this to be a spe- 
cific for the disease, losing no patients under this 
treatment provided the attack was taken in time. 

In general, however, he was handicapped by two 
difficulties. The disease made its attack so suddenly 
and developed so rapidly that unless remedies were 
applied at the earliest possible moment the end was 
fatal; but to many of the cases to which he came, the 


82 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


summons of the physician had been delayed until there 
was no hope of saving life. The other difficulty was 
equally fatal; utter heedlessness.to the directions. No 
amount of caution seemed sufficient to secure the im- 
perative attention to the prescription. One patient, 
with a mild attack, he found to be dying when he 
called later; and upon investigation found that she 
had taken the medicine once when she should have 
taken it twenty times, but in the meantime had re- 
sorted to the powders of a native doctor. But in 
spite of these obstacles, Dr. House reported that of 
eight or ten really severe cases in the households of 
the missionaries, none died, and that he had records 
of seventy or more cures of persons elsewhere 
dangerously attacked. 

The mortality of this plague of 49 was frightful. 
During the climax of the epidemic deaths were oc- 
curring at the rate of fifteen hundred a day in Bang- 
kok. The river was thick with floating bodies, and 
vessels coming in reported that they had counted hun- 
dreds of corpses floated by the tide seven days out to 
sea. When the plague had at last abated the official 
estimate of the number of deaths in Bangkok and 
vicinity during the seven months was not fewer than 
forty thousand. 


A CURIOUS MARK OF ROYAL GRATITUDE 


The episode of the plague had rather a curious con- 
clusion. When the pestilence had spent its force, 
King Phra Chao Pravat Thong decided that he would 
perform an “act of merit’ in honour of Buddha for 
the cessation of the epidemic. Since the religion of 
Buddha requires great veneration for the life of ani- 


CHOLERA COMES 83 


mals one of the surest means to merit is to grant 
freedom to animals that are in captivity. Accordingly 
a levy was made upon every citizen to bring to the 
palace ground a stated number of animals or birds 
during a fixed period, and upon a given day these 
were all to be liberated at the king’s command. To 
the surprise of the foreigners residing in Bangkok, 
they in common with the citizens received a demand 
for a gift of pigs and fowls and ducks in varying 
numbers and assortments. 

The members of the Presbyterian Mission, assum- 
ing that this liberating of the animals was a religious 
rite, declined to make the requested present upon the 
ground that they could not “consent in any way to 
have anything to do with the system of idolatry in 
the land”; but, to avoid the appearance of offense, 
added that if the gift were a mere matter of custom, 
they would offer the required present as a compli- 
ment to the king. On the following day they received 
word from the Pra Nai Wai, who had charge of the 
levy, that the desired present had nothing to do with 
the religion of the country but was merely intended as 
a token of congratulation to the king on the occasion 
of the abatement of the pestilence. In view of this 
explanation, Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon reconsid- 
ered their decision; and accordingly the required do- 
nation was sent, accompanied by a letter of congratu- 
lation with an expression of thanks to God and of a 
Christian prayer for His Majesty’s welfare. 

For three days the river was alive with craft bring- 
ing the gifts to the landing at the king’s palace, where 
the donor was credited. Then the gifts were taken to 
the depot where the aggregation was being fed by 


84 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


proper officers till the day of liberation arrived. It was 
estimated that more than two hundred pails of rice 
were necessary each day for feed. Then on the great 
day a river procession took place, a gala affair such as 
the Siamese frequently held on festal occasions: 


“The river at one time this morning, as far as eye 
could see around the bend and to the palace, had a pro- 
cession of boats with banners, white and red, with music 
and beating of cymbals, with cages of all colours and 
sizes and shapes—some one, two or four stories high, 
some like beautiful pagodas, some shaped like vases; 
some with flowers, some with banners representing by 
picture the animals or birds contained in the cages.” 


All proceeded to the river landing at the palace, where 
the captives were set free. It was estimated officially 
that nearly one hundred thousand fowls and ducks, 
some five hundred pigs and numerous boat-loads of 
live fish were included in the donations and were 
set free. | 

The incident, however, did not end here. A like 
request had gone to the French priests and the mem- 
bers of their parishes. At first the Bishop gave per- 
mission for the making of the present to the king; 
but later when it was rumoured that the king would 
liberate the captives to “ gain merit,” the bishop not 
only declined himself to make the gift but withdrew 
his permission previously granted to his people. This 
reversal caused great indignation among the officials 
responsible for gathering the presents. After a con- 
ference in which the bishop was informed, as the 
other foreigners had been, that the gift was not re- 
garded as a participation in a religious rite but only 


CHOLERA COMES 85 


as a customary token of congratulation, the bishop 
returned to his original attitude, restored permission 
to his people and offered a gift in his own behalf. 

But thereupon a new turn in the affair developed ; 
the eight French priests conferred together and con- 
cluded that the explanation was only a subterfuge, the 
real object of the gift being an act of worship; and 
they decided not to participate for themselves, not- 
withstanding the bishop’s permission. ‘This course 
had the disadvantage of placing them in the position 
of disrespect to the government, since their superior 
had approved of the participation. Accordingly the 
eight priests were admonished by the government that 
if they refused to acquiesce in the royal request they 
must leave the country. Remaining inexorable, the 
order was given for their banishment, but the bishop 
was permitted to remain because he had complied with 
the request. This decree remained in force until re- 
voked by King Mongkut in 1851. 

Some months later the foreign residents of Bang- 
kok were surprised to read in an English paper of 
Singapore a statement that the deported priests, on 
their passage through Singapore, had given ;—a ver- 
sion of the affair in which they appeared as heroes 
who had chosen expulsion rather than participation in 
pagan rites while the Protestant missionaries had pur- 
chased exemption by acquiescence. Unfortunately 
this interpretation of the incident to the glory of the 
eight priests placed their own bishop in an unfavour- 
able light. 


ABANDONING THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 
The distress of mind which Dr. House felt so 


86 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


keenly over the perplexities of his profession, coupled 
with eagerness for work that would give more direct 
propagation of the Gospel, caused him to determine 
that as soon as another medical man should come out 
to Siam he would abandon medical work. When at 
length Rev. D. B. Bradley, M.D., returned after a 
sojourn of three years in America and brought with 
him yet another doctor, Rev. L. B. Lane, M.D., Dr. 
House supposed that his longed-for time of release 
had arrived. In that expectation he wrote: 


“ After all, now that my looked-for medical helper has 
come, I do not find myself so inclined to give up the 
practise of medicine and surgery as I expected to. In- 
deed, I believe I verily love my profession more, now 
the time has come which I so long ago fixed as the time 
when I should most certainly renounce it. It is not such 
a burden to me as it once was. ... And yet I must have 
time granted me for study. My heart is quite set on 
fitting myself to preach the gospel from house to house 
as a colporteur. Have I not the right to take time for 
the study of the language in which I am so sadly 
deficient ! ” 


This reaction from his former depression is natural 
under the circumstances. Remembering that Dr. 
House had had no independent practise before going 
to Siam, not even having performed a surgical opera- 
tion alone, it is no wonder that the large and varied » 
number of cases which presented themselves to his 
untested skill should challenge his small degree of 
self-confidence. But the instant other physicians are 
at hand, that mental burden seems to find a measure 
of support in their presence. 

In the entry of the journal just quoted, however, 


CHOLERA COMES 87 


there appears in the open what hitherto he had not 
even written in privacy—another and controlling rea- 
son for giving up his profession, viz.: the desire to 
give his whole time to direct dissemination of the 
Gospel. First he would devote himself to gaining 
proficiency in the language, for the chief purpose of 
evangelising. All through his journal in these early 
years it appears that his heart was more occupied with 
the healing of souls than of bodies. To him the hos- 
pital was a means of gaining intimate contact with 
people that he might tell them about Jesus. 

Great was his chagrin, therefore, when he found 
that the arrival of two physicians was to give no im- 
mediate release. Dr. Bradley had returned with the 
intention of devoting himself to unattached practise, 
the A. B. C. F. M. having withdrawn its mission. Dr. 
Lane, who went out under the American Missionary 
Association, which for a time became the successor 
of the A. B. C. F. M., would not consent to take 
charge of the dispensary until he could command the 
language. There was nothing for Dr. House to do 
but to meet the exigency of the situation, and this he 
did by consenting to hold fixed hours at the floating 
dispensary but leaving to Dr. Bradley all outside calls. 
This arrangement allowed Dr. House half his time 
for the study of the language. | 

During this period of his connection with the hos- 
pital, in 1851, the smallpox broke out in Bangkok. 
Dr. House sent to Singapore for vaccine virus and at 
once began vaccinating any child whose parents he 
could induce to submit. For weeks he roamed about 
the city in his free hours soliciting patients for vac- 
cination, explaining, entreating, warning, and almost 


88 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


hiring parents to permit him to inoculate their chil- 
dren. As one reads through the daily entries of the 
journal at this time, he receives an odd impression of 
this foreign doctor going about the city begging per- 
mission to administer an ounce of prevention. Back 
of this he had two very earnest desires. The first and 
immediate purpose, of course, was to save life and to 
prevent the dire results of the disease, evidences of 
which he saw everywhere. But the deeper motive 
was, by the demonstrated advantage of vaccination, 
to induce confidence in Western sciences in general 
and in the good motives of the missionaries in par- 
ticular, so that the people would be ready to give 
more serious attention to the gospel message. 

After eighteen months of this arrangement, Dr. 
Lane took charge of the dispensary and Dr. House 
formally abandoned his profession. During the four 
and a half years he had a record of seven. thousand 
three hundred and two patients. With’ characteristic 
unselfishness, however, he consented for a time to 
substitute when the other physicians could not re-— 
spond to calls; but soon he found that old patients 
were taking advantage of this consent by expressing 
a preference for him, so that the cases were gradually 
increasing. Finally he took a firm stand and declined 
to do any professional work, except to assist in 
surgery. 

After Dr. House had altogether retired from his 
profession there appears in his journal a soliloquy 
which indicates that another motive had been subcon- 
sclously urging him to this course which, only after he 
had some months’ retrospect, had been permitted, to 
come to expression: | 


CHOLERA COMES 89 


“ April 17, 1853. Is it not my duty to write a full ex- 
pression of my feeling of my lost confidence in the heal- 
ing art to the executive committee. I fear my parents 
would be tried when the faculty cast me off as I do their 
traditionary notions. Peace with them is better than 
war, perhaps. And yet perhaps I am doing very wrong 
by standing in the way of some other medical missionary 
who would be sent out if I was not believed to be a 
regular practitioner. 

“ But the last consideration does but little trouble my 
conscience, believing as I do from the bottom of my 
heart, that the more medicine given the worse the patient 
is off; and the less, the better.” 


When once this idea gained the strength of expression 
he freely declared his opinion to his fellow-mission- 
aries. ‘Then we find the curious anomaly of a grad- 
uate in medicine arguing against the use of drugs and 
his patients contending for them. However this was 
only a passing phase of “ unbelief ” in an extreme de- 
gree, and his seeming trend towards faith cure had its 
own reaction when, a few years later, we find him 
having recourse to physicians and drugs when unaided 
nature did not bring relief for a wife’s constantly 
aching head. 

The change from the medical to the evangelistic and 
educational form of mission work had an effect upon 
Dr. House of which perhaps he was not quite con- 
scious, but which is quite evident to one who reviews 
his life in the foreshortened perspective afforded by 
the journal. As manifest in the quotations already 
given, the medical profession proved to be depressing 
to him because the sense of responsibility in decisions 
coincided too closely with his natural diffidence; and 
there was a slow but constant ebbing of self-confi- 


90 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


dence. Continuance in the medical work was liable to 
have lessened his general effectiveness for missions 
for this reason. But the more direct Gospel work of 
colportage, touring and teaching seemed to harmonise 
better with his mind so that he was buoyed up with 
hope and inspired with a courage that knew no ob- 
stacles. He had a greater faith in God than in him- 
self, and the evangelistic work gave the fullest range 
to that faith, impelling him to attempt whatever he 
believed to be his duty without fear of failure. 


AT THE TRACT HOUSE 


The larger object which Dr. House had in view in 
abandoning his profession was to devote himself more 
directly to the propagation of the Gospel. His ob- 
servation of the physical ailments of the people dis- 
closed that a large portion of the cases was attribu- 
table to sensualism, brutality or ignorance. This 
brought him to the conviction that however merciful 
and needful was the work of healing, the Gospel was 
of primary importance to remove the infection of sin - 
which was largely responsible for the bodily suffer- 
ings. When others arrived who with greater relish 
took over the medical work, he was eager to give him- 
self to the Gospel. | 

But he found himself sorely handicapped for this _ 
work. The urgency for opening up the dispensary 
had allowed him no time for careful study of the © 
language. After two years of constant practical use 
of Siamese he was afraid to undertake public address, 
for fear his blunders would bring ridicule upon his 
purpose. When he terminated his medical work 
entirely at the end of four and-a-half years he was 


CHOLERA COMES 91 


inclined to reproach himself for his defective pro- 
nunciation and faulty diction, a shortcoming which 
he never wholly remedied because the tongue had ac- 
quired its tricks through lack of early discipline. 
During these years the Gospel fervour in his heart 
consumed him with a fury because he could not give 
vent to his passion for evangelising. In the arguments 
with himself concerning the relinquishment of med- 
ical practise, he always came back to the imperative 
need for time to gain facility in the language. So, as 
soon as Dr. Lane took over the work of the dispen- 
sary, Dr. House gave himself to a diligent course of 
study under the tutorship of Kru Gnu. 

The three missions maintained jointly a Tract 
House in the bazaar. Upon arrival of Drs. Bradley 
and Lane, Dr. House was sufficiently relieved from 
the stress of medical work so that he promptly took 
his turn at the tract house. 


“Today I commenced going over to the tract house in 
the bazaar to distribute books. It will be long before I 
shall feel at ease in this necessarily hurried, confused 
mode of trying to do good, but I trust to be enabled to 
go through with it. The crowd not particularly unruly, 
but Satan put it into the heart of one of them to attempt 
to impose upon the newcomer again and again; now as 
a Siamese, now as a Chinese, now with and now without 
a hat,—to see how many books he could get from me. 
This is disheartening.” 


An example of another kind of trial in this street 
work, Dr. House relates concerning Dr. Bradley: 


“A Siamese nobleman told Dr. B. that he had watched 
him these many years, had seen him imposed upon every 


92 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


way by the Siamese, yet he did not get angry; ‘there 


must be something in your elena different from 


ours. 


The distribution of books in the bazaar had a mani- 
fold value. It not only put the printed word in the 
hands of those who did not come to the mission com- 
pound, but it also served to advertise the mission, re- 
sulting in daily calls of a score or more seeking addi- 
tional books. The free distribution of tracts in the 
bazaar had the advantage of opening the way at once 
for a public explanation of the contents of the tracts; 
and as these conversations were carried on in the 
hearing of a large circle, the propagation of the word 
was multiplied beyond the readers. 

The men of the mission had devised a unique 
method of economising and at the same time assuring 
that the distribution should be as effective as possible. 
The printed matter was arranged in series: When 
any one applied for a book, he was asked if he had 
previously had one. If he had not, he was given the 
first in the series, but if he had, he would be cate- 
chised to see whether he had read it. If he showed 
that he was familiar with the contents, he was given 
the next in the series; but if he had not, he was ad- 
vised to read the one he had. In many cases the 
applicant was able to give a very detailed account of | 
the Bible story he had read, and frequently asked 
questions. This scheme made sure that the printed 
matter was being judiciously distributed and that 
there was being slowly but surely implanted in the 
minds of many people the simple facts of the Bible, 
preparing them for fruitful attention to preaching in 


CHOLERA COMES 93 


after years. Just recently a missionary magazine told 
the story of a woman of Bangkok who made a pro- 
fession of Christian faith; and upon being asked 
where she first heard the Gospel story, replied that 
she first heard of Jesus from a street preacher in her 
childhood in the early fifties. The reach of faith in 
which those early missionaries sowed beside all waters 
was greater than the reach of our imagination to esti- 
mate the harvest. 

Dr. House enters in his journal the story of several 
conversions which illustrate the extraordinary fruit- 
age from these tracts carried away by visitors to the 
capital. The first of these cases came under his own 
personal notice, and the other was related to him by 
Mr. Jones, of the Baptist mission: 


“A copy of the Chinese gospel of Mark had been 
given months ago to a boy in one of the Chinese schools, 
He took the book home; it was given to the children to 
play with, till only a few leaves remained. A relative of 
the man who had married this boy’s sister came from 
China, and was visiting in the home of this boy when he 
chanced to pick up the tattered book. Reading, he be- 
came interested, and wished to know if he could get 
more. The next morning the brother of the boy fell in 
with the native assistant of the mission on his rounds 
distributing tracts, and invited him home with him to see 
the visitor. The inquirer was supplied with the book he 
wished and invited to come to the preaching at the 
station. He came, grew deeply interested, attended reg- 
ularly and two weeks ago was judged a fit subject 
for Christian baptism, and received into the Church 
[Baptist]. ... 

“At the Baptist mission there appeared one day a man 
of sixty years. He had come a six-day journey from 
the north. He had never seen a Christian missionary, 


94 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


but five years ago he came upon a Christian book. Be- 
coming interested he gathered here and there several 
parts of the Old and New Testaments. From these 
alone he was led to forsake idols, and became well versed 
in scripture—better even than the servants in the mission 
compound. He came to Bangkok and sought the mis- 
sionaries for further instruction. When asked, ‘ Who 
has been your teacher?’ he replied: ‘ Jesus; He has said, 
Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find.’ 
Within ten days after his appearance at the Baptist 
mission, he fell a victim of cholera.” 


CANVASSING THE CITY 


Dr. House devoted a part of each day to street 
work. He had previously in his walks about the city 
prepared an accurate map. He now laid this off in 
districts and entered upon a plan of systematic visita- 
tion to every house in the capital. This plan afforded 
unusual opportunity to see the people in their homes 
and to engage them in religious conversation. 


“ At I p.m. went out for a couple of hours distribution — 
of books. Met at a watt gate two old men. To one 
gave books; the other said he was an old man (seventy- 
four); his ears were deaf—he could scarcely hear; his 
eyes had become dark—he could not see to read; and 
what should he do? He seemed to wish to be instructed 
in the way of happiness, and I stopped to tell him of the 
love of God. Then we walked on together. ... I could 
not part from him with Christ yet unspoken of, and so_ 
in the road I stopped again, sheltered by my umbrella 
only, till I had given him the idea of the Son of God 
dying in the sinner’s place. I did not know or care what 
passers-by might think, I only thought of the poor old 
man’s need of the Saviour. 

“My first visit was to a floating house where a Sia- 
mese lady was sitting in the shade of the veranda. 


CHOLERA COMES 95 


She was glad to get books—read fluently; said she al- 
ready held to our way of worship, and gave a specimen 
of chanting some part of the Roman ritual. 

“Next was sent for by a young prince to whose intelli- 
gent family I had given books last week. He gave me 
tea, etc. The woman at the next house said ‘ Oh, yes, I 
would like books,’ and an interesting conversation en- 
sued. She at once assented to there being a Creator, 
and though probably had never heard of one before, 
asked for His name. How happy I feel when coming to 
one such I tell of the God of creation, and unfold the 
wondrous story of redemption. 

“ At the next house found a clay modeler at work. He 
had a book, and brought it to me—proved to be an Eng- 
lish speller. It had a hymn in praise of mother-love, 
also a church—, and a Watt’s catechism. The latter I 
translated to him, giving me an opportunity to give much 
religious instruction.” 


This type of evangelistic work Dr. House very soon 
found to be much to his liking, and was surprised at 
his own versatility in religious conversation: 


“T ought to bless God for giving me, as I believe I 
have, some talent for entering into conversation with 
strangers, introducing the great subject to those casu- 
ally met. I was in early youth sensible of a great lack 
of talent of this kind, but cultivated it and now I am not 
the same I once was. ... O, Master, fill my heart with 
Thy love, and then my lips must always and to all speak 
forth Thy praise.” 


Occasionally he writes out an abstract of the con- 
versation, especially if it had shown particular thought 
on the part of the interlocutor. A transcription of 
one of these entries will give a good idea of how the 
missionary “ preaches ”’ : 


96 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“Going over into the palace of our prince, found 
several Nai, intelligent headmen—one a Khun—gathered 
on the porch of the audience hall. They invited me to 
sit down and answer questions, ‘talk about religion’ they 
said. ... Our religion differs in this, for one thing; 
whereas your god Buddha was originally a man who by 
merit attained to divinity, ours was originally God, who 
took on him the nature of man. ‘ But what did he do 
that he might become God?’ they asked. So I told of 
eternity and Jehovah. They asked if we were hired to 
come over here; surprised we had no temple with idols; 
never was a more excellent opportunity to make known 
God’s blessed truth, or more respectful attention—all 
friendly, civil. And to many, what I said had all the 
interest of novelty. ... What were God’s command- 
ments? Is Jesus then the Son of God? Can a Siamese 
man, if he repent, be saved? Can you become God, will 
you become a God at last? Why did not God create all 
men alike? Why must he needs try us on probation? 
In what direction is hell?—these and innumerable simi- 
lar questions were proposed mostly in good faith. And 
grace was given me and utterance to give what seemed 
a satisfactory answer to most of them.” | 


On another day, passing through the grounds of a 
watt, he was invited by a priest of his acquaintance © 
to stop for a call. Tea was made ready and a pleas- 
ant discussion of religion ensued in the presence of 
several young priests: 


“One thing he could not get over, we killed animals. 
Yes, so do you, I told him; and explained about animal- 
cule in water—promised to let him see them through my 
microscope when it came. 

“Transmigration endless! He told me that Buddha 
taught that if any one took a needle and thrust it into 
the earth anywhere in the wide world, and was to ask 


CHOLERA COMES 97 


his teacher if he had ever been there,—Yes, he had some 
time or other been buried there! So of any given place 
on the earth’s surface. (This beats geology for stupen- 
dous periods of time.) 


“ Buddha taught that time passed very slowly in hell; 
and he illustrated it thus: Now 2,395 years since Gotama 
Buddha died—all that time but as half an hour to those 
in hell. 


““TLet me see your god and I will believe,’ said some 
onlooker. I asked him if he could see his own god? 
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Stop,’ said my host, ‘ you had better 
say nothing of that.’ But I went on to ask him if he 
worshipped brick and mortar which could not lift its 
hand, nor see nor hear. 

“They all thought Nippant (nirvana) preferable to 


heaven—till I told of the assurance we had that ‘they 
go no more out.’ ” 


VISIONS OF THE REGIONS BEYOND 


During this systematic visitation, Dr. House ob- 
tained glimpses of, “the regions beyond.” Medical 
work had already brought him into contact with the 
aliens in Bangkok. As he became acquainted with 
these groups by his travels throughout the city he 
became deeply interested in their home lands. Small 
as the mission force in Bangkok was, he began to 
meditate whether their efforts should be confined to 
the Siamese to the exclusion of all these other peoples. 

At that time it was estimated that the strangers 
within the gates were equal to the native population 
of Bangkok. Chief among these immigrants were 
the Chinese. The Chinese held nearly all the trading 
in Bangkok. The semi-annual trade winds brought 
numerous junks from China laded with Chinese 
products; and each of these junks had its cargo of 


98 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


human freight also. Sometimes a single junk would 
bring as many as three hundred; and the average 
annual immigration was estimated at one thousand. 
These people came largely from the Island of Hainan, 
and nine-tenths of those who sent their boys to the 
mission school were from this province. 

There were but few Burmese in Bangkok; but of 
their old enemies, the Peguans, there was a large vil- 
lage on the west bank of the river. These people had 
originally sought refuge from the Burmese by taking 
service under the king of Siam, but in time had prac- 
tically become his serfs. It was in their village that 
Mrs. Mattoon began her class of children which later 
was transferred to the mission compound. The Ma- 
lays, few in number, could not be reached for want 
of acquaintance with their language. Dr. House 
records an anecdote which had come to his ears 
showing the shrewdness of these people in their native 
country : ' 


“The chiefs obtained some Christian tracts. When- 
ever a trading vessel arrived, they showed these tracts 
to the captain. If the captain swore at the tracts, they 
concluded that he was not a Christian, and would have 
nothing to do with him. But if he displayed an interest 
and inquired about the tracts, they judged that he was 
sympathetic with religion and that they could trust him.” 


During the cholera epidemic Dr. House was called 
to see the servant of a Cambodian prince living in 
Bangkok, and the visit resulted in an enduring friend- 
ship. The prince, the son of the king of Cambodia, 
was living in a grand palace provided by the king of 
Siam; and Dr. House was led to suspect that he was 


CHOLERA COMES 99 


held as hostage for the good behaviour of his father, 
over whom Siam claimed suzerainty. The prince 
urged the doctor to go to Cambodia, assuring him that 
he would be welcomed with open arms by the king; 
and that the people did not approve of the worship 
of images, for the Cambodians held that ‘ God made 
man, and man cannot make God.” ‘The information 
gained from the prince prompted Dr. House and Mr. 
Mattoon to plan a trip into that country. They en- 
tered upon the study of the language for that purpose, 
but the death of the old king of Siam arrested these 
plans. However, the interest awakened in Dr. House 
led eventually to his notable trip to Korat. 

But perhaps the most important of these chance 
relations was with the Lao. The doctor had early 
learned of the frequent trips of boatmen from the 
Lao land. With ears open for useful information, he 
gathered from a Siamo-Portuguese doctor, who had 
accompanied a Catholic priest to Chieng Mai, infor- 
mation concerning the route, knowledge of the recep- 
tive character of the people and of the deceptive 
nature of the reigning prince. His interest in the Lao 
grew until he felt prompted to leave the Siamese to 
his fellow missionaries and betake himself to the Lao 
country. A particular day of indifference to his mes- 
sage in the streets of Bangkok sent him to bed with 
a heavy heart: 


“But ere midnight,” he writes, “my sorrow was 
turned into joy as the privilege was presented to my 
view of yet going a messenger of the glad tidings to the 
tribes of the Laos to the north, To them shall my 
thoughts be given and my future life, if Providence but 
opens the way.” 


100 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


And again when he was depressed by the fruitless- 
ness of the early labours he meditates: 


“T believe all the past of my strange history has been 
for a purpose—yet all unrevealed—and I will not trouble 
myself about it. May I ever be ready to serve my 
Master, anywhere at all times. But should I be per- 
mitted in his Providence to carry his blessed gospel to 
the Laos some future day, then I can read and under- 
stand the why of some things. To be thus privileged 
were better than to visit the home of my childhood, my 
aged parents, my brother, again—’twere better than to 
be blessed with houses or lands or wife or children of 
my own,” 


To him the mission in Bangkok at that time was like 
a candle in a starless night, very faint to be sure, but 
making more dense the surrounding darkness that 
seemed to confine its light. His eyes strained to look 
into the regions beyond and his heart beat with pas- 
sionate desire to evangelise the unknown peoples. 


VII 


PROVIDENCE CHANGES PERIL INTO 
PRIVILEGE 


N 1850 the United States sent Honourable James 
I Ballestier, with a small suite including Rev. Wil- 
liam Dean, a former missionary, as his secretary, 
to seek a more generous commercial treaty with Siam. 
After three months of bickering with officials he was 
constrained to withdraw from the fruitless effort. 
The king refused to give a personal audience to the 
envoy, whereas the envoy refused to deliver the letter 
from the President to any but the king. This point 
of etiquette was of vital importance. By refusing to 
give audience to the representative of another nation, 
the oriental monarch was signifying that he did not 
regard the other nation on an equality with Siam. It 
will be recalled that Commodore Perry, in seeking a 
treaty with Japan, met this same presumption. Even 
as late as 1868 China would not admit the equality of 
other nations by allowing their envoys to personal in- 
terview with the emperor. Acknowledging himself 
vanquished in this point of procedure, Mr. Ballestier 
withdrew. 
scarcely had the Americans departed when news 
was received that a British squadron was on its way, 
bringing an embassy to request a new treaty. The 
belligerent character of Great Britain at that time was 
known in Siam, so that this report sent a tremor of 


101 


102 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


fear through the body politic. With a large suite and 
a great display of naval force the British envoy Sir 
James Brookes met no greater success than the 
American. He left in high indignation at the treat- 
ment accorded him, threatening vengeance for the dis- 
courtesy shown to Her Majesty’s communication. 
Upon his withdrawal the fear which preceded his ar- 
rival increased to a panic among the officials, who 
were terrified at the prospects of war as a result of 
the king’s stubborn adherence to custom. 
Hand-in-hand with the crisis in the international 
relations the affairs of the missions were fast drifting 
towards probable extinction. As the intercourse be- 
tween the Siamese and Sir James Brookes became 
strained, the Siamese began to cut off communications 
with the foreign residents. This was only the shadow 
of what was to come. As soon as the British fleet 
left, a sudden wave of arrests gathered in all who 
were employed as teachers at the missions. Upon 
inquiry as to the reason, the missionaries were in-— 
formed that the teachers were to be punished for 
breaking the law in teaching the sacred language Pali 
to foreigners. The only plausible ground for this 
charge was that the Baptist press had, at the request 
of a high official, undertaken to print the laws of Siam 
which were in that language. Next the house servants 
withdrew from the homes of the foreigners. 
Another mark of increased hostility was in con- 
nection with negotiations for a piece of land for the 
Presbyterian Mission. Attempts had been made sev- 
eral times, but the transaction had been adroitly 
blocked. Since permission must be obtained -for 
tenure of land by foreigners, applications were met 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 103 


with procrastination which meant denial, or alterna- 
tive locations were offered which were totally unfit 
for the needs. Just before the arrival of the two 
embassies, a friendly Siamese was found who was 
willing to lease a desirable piece of land; official per- 
mission was secured, the money paid over and the 
Mattoon family had actually caused their floating 
house to be towed to the new location preliminary to 
the erection of a building. Just at this juncture oc- 
curred the abortive negotiations for a revision of 
treaties. Without explanation or warning, a per- 
emptory order came from a higher official, revoking 
the permit and requiring the missionary to return to 
the old location. 

Under these circumstances Dr. House wrote home 
(Sept., 1850) : 


“Tt becomes a serious question what, as a mission, is 
our duty—it now being settled that no change for the 
better is to be hoped for. Three and a half years we 
have been seeking for a place where we could locate 
our mission, and in our own way aid in bringing this 
heathen people to Christ. But a separate home among 
them has been denied and we baffled in every attempt to 
secure premises on which we might build houses, gather 
a school and lay foundations for those that come after 
us. Thus far we have had no local habitation or name 
of our own—being merged in other societies, living by 
suffrance on their premises. . . . And now our teachers 
are taken from us; no one daring (with imprisonment 
hanging over them) to become teacher of the proscribed 
foreigner.” ented 


The status of the mission was deemed so critical 
that Dr, House was authorised to report the situation 


104 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


to the mission office in New York and to ask permis- 
sion for the missionaries to quit Siam as the last 
resort and to attach themselves to missions in other 
lands. The reply, received nine months later, gave 
full authority to the missionaries in the matter, and 
provisionally assigned Dr. House as assistant to Dr. 
Happer in China. This assignment had been sug- 
gested by Dr. House in his letter to the Board because 
Dr. Happer, knowing of the crisis in Siam, had writ- 
ten him to come to China, adding that he “ always 
thought Siam an unpromising field; and that after 
the Board gets out of it they might as well keep clear 
of it.”’ While waiting for the desired authority to quit 
the field the missionaries kept an eye open for a fa- 


vourable chance to get away in safety, deeming them- 


selves warranted in escaping with their lives in any 
vessel that could be found to take them away. Thus 
did the Mission come very close to an untimely end. 


DEATH OF THE OLD KING 
The serious foreboding of the natives and foreign- 
ers alike was greatly intensified by the rumour that 
the king had shut himself up in his palace and would 


al 


have no communication with his nobles. Daily the . 


court assembled according to custom but the king took 
no counsel with them concerning public affairs. So 
few were permitted to enter the royal presence that 
it was difficult to ascertain whether he was sick or 
only in a pet as on a previous occasion. It was, how- 
ever, a case of serious illness from a chronic disease 
which had rapidly become critical. 

About the middle of February of that notable year, 
1851, the king sent a document to the assembled no- 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 105 


bles, briefly stating that he despaired of recovery, and 
left to the council of princes and three chief ministers 
the selection of a successor; and at the same time 
turned over the reins of government to these three 
ministers. Although the king at this time refrained 
from nominating a successor, he had some months 
previously expressed a preference for a favourite son, 
but the nobles would not confirm his wish. Besides 
this son there were two other aggressive aspirants for 
the throne; all three candidates being conservatives. 
While both Chao Fah Yai and Chao Fah Noi had 
legitimate claims to the throne there was no apparent 
prospect that either would be chosen, for the other 
three claimants were strongly united in their opposi- 
tion especially to the former because of his known 
friendliness towards the English. 

As the situation grew ominous of civil strife, the 
Pra Klang, the strongest of the nobles and the leader 
of the situation, proposed the name of Chao Fah Yai, 
having already taken precautions to win to his support 
the commander of the army; and let it be known that 
any of the pretenders who did not acquiesce would 
have to contest their claim with him. By such bold 
measures he carried the day, even the rivals reluct- 
antly giving in their adherence; and on the following 
day the decision of the council was communicated to 
the Prince-Priest, who gave his acceptance on the 18th 
of March. The king-elect remained in his watt till 
the death of the king on April 3; he then was brought 
to the palace grounds in state and lodged in a house 
especially built for a temporary sojourn, and changed 
his yellow priestly robes for the ceremonial dress suit- 
able to be worn until the coronation, 


106 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Before being brought to the royal premises, the 
king-elect graciously received three of the mission- 
aries who called upon him, Dr. Bradley, Mr. Jones 
and Professor Silsby. No doubt it was to this oc- 
casion that Mrs. Leonowens refers in her book An 
English Governess (p. 242) : 


“Nor did the newly-crowned sovereign forget his 
friends and teachers the American missionaries. He 
sent for them and thanked them cordially for all they 
had taught him, assuring them that it was his earnest 
desire to administer the government after the model of 
the limited monarchy of England and to introduce 
schools where the Siamese youth might be well taught in 
the English language and literature and sciences of 
Europe. ... In this connection Rev. Messrs. Bradley, 
Caswell, House, Mattoon and Dean are entitled to spe- 
cial mention. ‘To their united influence Siam unques- 
tionably owes much if not all her present advancement 
and prosperity.” | 


He authorised Mr. Jones to state that “should the 
English or American government send an embassy to 
Siam now he thought they would be kindly and fa- 
vourably received.” He also received the Roman 
Catholic bishop, requested him to have prayers offered 
in his church for the peace of the country and con- 
sented to have the priests, banished by his predecessor, 
recalled. 

No believer in Providence can fail to recognise the 
hand of God directing the course of affairs in Siam 
at this crisis. Had the old king continued to live, war 
with Great Britain was inevitable. Had either of the 
reactionary candidates been chosen civil strife would 
have been precipitated. In either case the founda- 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 107 


tion stones of the mission would have been widely 
scattered. 


CHANGED ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOREIGNERS 


In May, 1851, the king was formally inducted into 
his regal office under the title Prabat Somdetch Pra 
Paramender Maha Mongkut. The accession was 
celebrated with prolonged festivities. The coronation 
was private, witnessed only by the princes and nobles. 
After an interval of a few days came the more public 
ceremony of enthronement, and to this the Europeans 
were invited: 


“We all (except of course the ladies) had the honour 
of being present by his own invitation. Indeed we had 
a regular audience from His Majesty; a strange and not 
a little imposing scene it was in that audience hall of the 
palace. A dinner was prepared for us after the Euro- 
pean style, and though ‘he could not shake hands with 
us as he desired—Siamese custom not allowing it,’ yet 
he sent some substantial proof of his regard in the shape 
of a gold flower and one of silver, together with a gold 
ysalung (value one-fourth eagle) and other specimens of 
the coinage of the new reign. 

“You will understand how marked are these atten- 
tions when you are told that no missionary was ever 
before on any occasion admitted within the walls of the 
palace, much less allowed to have an audience. ... We 
were told from the throne in a public audience by the 
King himself (who perfectly understands our object in 
coming to his land) that he wished us to find ourselves 
pleasantly situated in his country and to go on with our 
pursuits as we have been doing— Fear not!’ he added. 
That was the purport of what he said, and though he 
was addressing merchants as well as ourselves we knew 
he must have had us in mind as much as them.” 


108 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Then came the spectacular procession of the king 
and nobles around the walls of the palace: 


“ According to immemorial custom on coronation oc- 
casions, H. M., with his nobles and princes in grand 
procession, marched around the walls of the royal palace, 
a mile in circumference. We missionaries with the other 
Europeans received special invitations to be present... . 
As the King came along, with pomp and glitter and dis- 
play of wealth, sitting high on his throne carried by 
thirty-two men, he was distributing right and left to the 
crowds showers of silver coins. When he saw us he 
stopped to rain silver upon us with a right good will.” 


A month later occurred the inauguration of Chao Fah 
Noi as Second or Vice King. A public pageant only 
slightly less magnificent was given, and again the mis- 
sionaries with the Europeans were personally invited 
and honoured with special attention. 

With the accession of King Mongkut a complete 
change of attitude towards the missionaries was in- 
stant. The new men appointed to high office were 
from the group of progressives. ‘Those who were 
carried over from the old régime changed their atti- 
tude with facility, for after all they only reflected the 
royal mind. Princes who had eschewed intercourse — 
with foreigners now courted their acquaintance, 
frankly declaring that fear of disfavour with the old 
king had formerly held them aloof. Teachers and ser- 
vants eagerly returned to their posts. The people in 
the streets manifested a new respect for the foreign- 
ers. With great joy Dr. House records the change: 


“ A new era with us—at least the dawn of a brighter 
day. We have a home at last promised us, and on a 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 109 


really pleasant spot of ground they are going to allow 
us to build. With brothers Mattoon and Bush, went up 
to visit the ex-prince-physician (now foreign minister) 
at his new palace he falls heir to. Were graciously re- 
ceived. ‘I have laid the matter of which you spoke, 
before the King. He said he gives his permission for 
you to come here (i. e., to site nearby) to live; desires 
me to give you any assistance; permits you to build for 
yourselves ; can have the whole vacant space to the canal 
bank, if needed; wishes you to build many houses; about 
a thousand missionaries may come if they wish.’ 

“Almost too good to be true! Are we really then 
going to obtain what we have been seeking for in vain 
now these four and one-half years—a place to build a 
home of our own? A most eligible spot this; none better 
in all Bangkok.” 


Permanency being assured, the missionaries decided 
to construct houses of brick, making them as durable 
and as comfortable as possible. The erection of these 
houses required a constant oversight of the work and 
attention to details that cannot well be understood by 
people in America, for all the practical problems that 
the architect or builder would take care of as a matter 
of course had to be solved by the missionaries who 
had no experience in such work. In the midst of the 
enterprise the masons and carpenters struck and it re- 
quired much diplomacy to adjust their demands. ‘The 
first houses were completed and preaching services 
begun at the new compound in February, 1852. This 
site continued to be the location of the mission until 
1857, when growth of the work necessitated a change. 


MISSIONARY LADIES TEACHING IN THE PALACE 
The most notable of all the friendly gestures was 


110 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


the royal request to have the ladies of the missions 
teach English to the ladies of the palace. The sig- 
nificance of this extraordinary move was understood 
least of all among these ladies themselves. By his 
manifestation of approval for female education the 
king swept completely away the argument of age-long 
custom against the teaching of women. ‘There con- 
tinued to be practical difficulties but the insurmount- 
able obstacle had been removed by a single gesture of 
the liberal-minded king. This notable request is re- 
corded in Dr. House’s journal under date of Aug. 
BS i Gob: 


“Dr. Bradley and Mr. Jones received a communication 
from the grand chamberlain of the royal palace, etc. 
“H. M. had heard from Pya Sisuriwong and Pra Nai 
Wai that the wives of the missionaries would teach, 
changing times (i.e. in turn) the royal girls and ladies, 
if H. M. allow. H. M. wishes to know how you will do, 
and desires several ladies who live with him to acquire 
knowledge in English, etc.’ 

“Dr. Bradley replied that the ladies of the mission 


had made themselves a board of managers of the affair - 


and were ready to undertake the work. Next morning 


Dr. Bradley was summoned to the new prime minister’s, 


and told that H. M. desired the teaching in English to 
ladies of the palace to begin today—that the astrologer 
had pronounced it a good day—and requested Mrs. 
Bradley to go atg a.m. She did so, her husband leaving 
her at the palace gate where the Pra Nai Wai received 
her and led her to the gate of the woman’s apartments; 
there a number of women were waiting for her. While 
waiting outside, the young Princess of Wongna met 
her, carried in state under a yellow canopy, and shook 
hands with her. She was led to the hall where nine 
young ladies from sixteen to twenty (one of thirty)— 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 111 


bright, intelligent and beautiful, she described them— 
were committed to her as her pupils in charge of the 
matron of the palace.” 


The women of the mission who assumed this task 
were Mrs. D. B. Bradley, Mrs. Stephen Mattoon and 
Mrs. J. T. Jones (who later became Mrs. S. I. Smith). 
This work among the women of the palace Dr. House 
characterises as the “ first zenana work conducted in 
any foreign lands,” antedating the zenana work in 
India by some five or six years. The number of pu- 
pils at first increased very quickly to twenty-five or 
thirty, but after the novelty wore off many of the 
ladies dropped out of the class. A few maintained an 
interest to the end, and even invited the teachers to 
visit them in their private apartments for more serious 
work of conversation. 

The visits of the missionary ladies to the palace 
continued for a little over three years, when they sud- 
denly and without explanation found admission de- 
nied to them. Some have surmised that the king 
became displeased at the religious influence. How- 
ever the more probable explanation is that sug- 
gested by Dr. House’s journal where the change in 
this order is associated with the temporary dis- 
pleasure of the king towards the missionaries by 
reason of a letter calumniating his character, which 
coincidently appeared in a newspaper of Straits 
Settlement and which he erroneously attributed to a 
missionary. 


FIRST FRUITS OF THE MISSION 
Along with the turn of the tide in the relations of 


112 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


the government there came to the workers the cheer 
of gathering the first fruits from the seed of their 
own sowing. Though there was no evidence of the 
native Siamese being interested in the Gospel, yet the 
missionaries were not left without a token that their 
work was honoured of God. Two years after the 
organisation of the church, a Chinese convert was 
received. Under date of Oct., 1851, Dr. House wrote 
to his parents: 


“Tt is at last our privilege to write to you of one who, 
once a worshipper of idols, is now a worshipper of 
Jehovah. ... His name is Ooan Si Teng, a Chinese 
twenty-four years old, born on the Island of Hainan, has 
been here some six years, speaks and reads Siamese and 
also reads his native language. He has been living in 
the family of Mr. Mattoon for the past two or three 
years. From his first acquaintance with us he has been 
convinced of the folly of idol worship and has renounced 
it. ... He accompanied Mrs. Mattoon to Singapore as 
bearer for little Lowrie; and Dr. Lane, with whom Mrs. 
Mattoon resided while there, says of him that had he - 
already been a professing Christian, his conduct could 
not have been more exemplary. 

“So it was with great joy that at our last communion 
October 5, we received him to the ordinance of the 
Lord’s appointing. The eyes of more than one of us 
were filled with tears of joy as we looked on this inter- 
esting scene. ...In all probability he was the first 
native of that Island to be converted to protestant . 
Christianity.” 


While there was bright hope of the immediate pros- 
pects on the field, from the Mission Board there came 


the discouraging reply, “ No money, no men,” in re- 
sponse to pleas for recruits. The reports of the dire 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 113 


situation under the old king had not yet been over- 
taken at home by the news of the marvellous change 
under the new government. 


PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH KING MONGKUT 


As he had intimated, the king could not continue 
familiar intercourse with the westerners because none 
but the nobles might enter his presence, except by par- 
ticular request. There was some speculation, there- 
fore, as to the attitude he would assume towards the 
missionaries after the coronation ceremonies were 
over. Any misgivings they may have had were soon 
dispelled. For some years it had been the custom of 
the Prince-Priest to celebrate his birthday—“ the day 
like that on which I was born,” as he termed it—by 
inviting his foreign friends to a feast. The mission- 
aries awaited the royal birthday with some interest, 
agreeing among themselves that his future attitude 
towards them would be more truly forecast by his 
treatment of his former custom. When the day ap- 
proached the king sent an autograph letter “ to all the 
white strangers,” inviting them to the palace. 

Concerning this event Dr. House wrote (Oct. 
18, 1851): 


“This day twelve-month, how different we were sit- 
uated: our teachers arrested and in irons; our servants 
panic struck or in prison; and we seriously agitating the 
question of seeking a more open field to labor in. 

“Now we are the invited guests of the King himself, 
on the occasion of his forty-seventh birthday, to dine at 
the royal palace with other Europeans. His Majesty’s 
eldest son is deputed to do the honours of the feast, and 
we receiving a present of gold from the sovereign of the 


114 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


land as a token of his favour; and nobles and princes 
courting rather than shunning our acquaintance.” 


King Mongkut entertained a particularly -high es- 
teem for Dr. Bradley and Dr. House. This admira- 
tion manifested itself not merely by including them 
under the bestowal of general favours but by marks 
of personal consideration. It was no small honour 
which the king conferred upon Dr. House by this 
request (July, 1852) : 


“Honoured today by the first personal summons I (or 
indeed any of us missionaries) have received to the 
royal presence. Nai Poon called to say that he was 
ordered some days ago to take me for conversation in 
English as His Majesty was ‘ losing all his English.’ ” 


Frequently the king sent to Dr. House requesting him 
to translate for him items of political or scientific in- 
terest in English journals or to report news from the 
doctor’s foreign mail. Before the king engaged Mrs. 
Leonowens, the English governess, who served also 
as his amanuensis, he occasionally would summon Dr. 
House to transcribe in a familiar hand letters in 
English to the king or to write for him letters to for- 
eign rulers, including Queen Victoria and the Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

In his capacity as a surgeon, after he had given up 
the general practise, Dr. House was on two occasions 
summoned to assist Dr. Bradley at the king’s palace. 
In January of 1852 he records his first attendance: 


“At His Majesty’s request—the prince physician de- 
siring it, Dr. Bradley was summoned to take charge of 
one of the royal ladies who had been confined but a few 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 115 


days before of a princess—His Majesty’s first begotten 
since his accession. ... Never before had any foreign 
physician been within the forbidden precincts of the 
harem of the royal palace. His Majesty, like a good 
husband anxious for his young wife, desired Dr. Bradley 
to invite me to accompany him as counsel in the case. 
So in the evening I went expecting to return by twelve 
o'clock. Parleying at the inner gate, women servants 
opened the gates and escorted us to the palace. Dr. 
Bradley had got the fire by which she was lying extin- 
guished (custom required ‘lying by the fire’), had put 
her on a close diet and other treatment. An old lady of 
rank waited to carry up my opinion of the case to the 
‘Sacred Feet.’ At midnight, finding our patient had no 
new paroxysms, as we feared she might, we proposed 
going home. ‘Go, how can you; you must stay till morn- 
ing, you are locked in and the key sent to the king, so 
stay you must; no one goes out till daylight!’ ” 


Some days after Dr. Bradley received from the 
king the following letter of appreciation: 


“My Drar Sir: 

“My mind is indeed full of much gratitude to you for 
your skill and some expense of medicine in most valuable 
favour to my dear lady, the mother of my infant daugh- 
ter, by saving her life from approaching death. I cannot 
hesitate longer than perceiving that she was undoubtedly 
saved. 

“T beg therefore your kind acceptance of two hun- 
dred ticals for Dr. Bradley, who was the curer of her, 
and forty ticals for Dr. S. R. House, who had some 
trouble in his assistance, for being your grateful reward. 

“T trust(ed) previously the manner of curing in the 
obstetric of America and Europe, but sorry to say I 
could not get the same lady to believe before her ap- 
proaching (threatening) death, because her kindred were 
many more who lead her according to their custom. 


116 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Your present curing, however, was just now most 
wonderful in this palace. 
“T beg to remain your friend and well-wisher, | 
“S. P. P. M. Monexvt, the King of Siam.” 


In September of the same year the two doctors 
were again called to the palace to attend upon the 
queen-consort. A still-birth had left the queen in a 
precarious condition, so that for more than a month 
Dr. Bradley was in almost continuous attendance 
throughout the day, while Dr. House took his place 
during the night. During this occasion it was neces- 
sary for them to remain in the palace on the Sabbath, 
and on that day the two missionaries availed them- 
selves of a privilege accorded by the king, who agreed 
that when it was necessary for them to remain during 
Sunday they should have freedom to conduct worship 
in the palace. | 


“There in that hall of the queen’s apartments in the 
inner palace, to the interesting group around, Dr. Brad- 
ley read the scriptures ... his auditors occasionally 
asking questions, sometimes for information, sometimes 
in a carping way.” 


But the queen was not improving; and at her re- 
quest the foreign doctors were permitted to leave and 
the Siamese court physicians restored to their func- 
tions, administering their medicines prepared from 
“sapanwood shavings, rhinoceros’ blood and the 
cast-off skins of spiders.” After a day the American 
physicians were again called in attendance, and al- 
though they judged the cause to be beyond help, con- 
tinued in constant attendance. 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 117 


“September 25. For first time without exception since 
Monday, September 13, am to sleep in my own bed at 
home—having all other nights slept in my clothes at the 
royal palace, relieving Dr. B. who has charge of the 
queen in his attendance at night, his family requiring 
his presence then.” 


The death of the queen occurred on the tenth of Oc- 
tober. On this occasion Dr. House was requested by 
the king to write a detailed account of the late illness 
and death of the queen; and this, together with matter 
of his own composition, the king had printed for 
distribution. 


_A MISSION SCHOOL ORGANIZED 


Having obtained a permanent location, the Presby- 
terian missionaries advanced to the long-cherished 
project of a school. Under date of August, 1852, Dr. 
House makes entry: 


“In evening we talked over plans for doing good, 
laying out mission work, schools, bazaar schools, a Chi- 
nese teacher. Will go to Rapri to visit our brother 
Quakieng.” 


This last sentence refers to the Chinese who had 
been received into the young church upon certificate. 
He lived at Rapri (Ratburi), a few days’ journey 
northwest of Bangkok, where he conducted a school 
for Chinese children. A week later the journal re- 
cords: “On next Sabbath (15th) Quakieng will begin 
to explain the Scripture to the Chinese.” This indi- 
cates the first step forward, a teacher of the Chinese 
language introduced as a means of gaining pupils 


118 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


from among the Siamo-Chinese children. From this 
time until his death he was fully associated with the 
school; and in November he removed his ae to 
live near the mission compound. 

At the annual meeting of the Mission, Oct. 4, 1852, 
the journal says: 


“A superintendent of mission schools appointed; and 
myself appointed to that office. Shall have new respon- 
sibilities and important ones; would shrink, but dare not, 
cannot—must go forward. Perhaps wiil find what I 
have been waiting for yet. Talked over openings for 
starting schools. We all feel as if we are but just 
organized—as it were, commencing.” 


This appointment was after the doctor had fully aban- 
doned medical practise. The new school started off 
with good prospects. In October Mrs. Mattoon began 
to give instruction in Siamese language to the eight 
boys. The annual report to the Board, prepared per- 
haps two months later, gives the enrollment at twenty- 
seven, including the four girls in the families and day 
pupils; while in January the doctor comments: 


“Our schools are doing well, but too few pupils. 
Geography and arithmetic in the boarding school 
(twelve pupils) now fall to me.” 


The use of the word “ schools ” in the plural is ac- 
counted for by the fact that Mrs. Mattoon had suc- 
ceeded about this time in organising a class in the 
Peguan village, across the river. But the period of 
daily instruction was manifestly not enough to coun- 
teract the influence of the community. Having 
through a number of months succeeded in winning 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 119 


the confidence of the parents, at length, in February, 
1853, she induced them to let their children (mostly 
girls) go to live in the mission compound: 


“February 9. ‘Tomorrow we expect to have quite an 
accession to the number of our boarding pupils—the 
whole (almost) of the scholars at the Peguan village, 
where Mrs. Mattoon has won the confidence of the par- 
ents as well as the love of the children. Teacher Kieng 
reports that their mothers were washing and scrubbing 
them as clean as possible today, and their teeth have all 
got quite white, so long have they left off chewing betel. 

“February 10, And they have indeed come, the little 
ones whom Mrs. Mattoon has allured from their mothers, 
to take up their home with us. They hardly slept last 
night their mothers said and were up early—and yet 
some tears were shed. ... The mothers came with 
them; showed them our school rooms, the new bamboo 
bedsteads, the maps—China, Burmah, Ceylon, England, 
America. Speaking of my mother—‘Is she yet alive?’ 
said one of them, ‘now why did you leave your mother 
and come to live in-Siam.’ . . . Ploi is engaged by Mrs. 
Mattoon to prepare their food and to go to bathe with 
them.” 


Thus began the first boarding school for girls at the 
Presbyterian Mission in Siam. 


DIFFICULTY IN OBTAINING PUPILS 


One of the difficulties encountered was to secure 
pupils for a period sufficiently long to make the work 
worth while. So little did the Siamese parents value 
the opportunities offered that they even wanted to be 
paid to send their children. A custom of the country 
afforded a practical means to obtain and hold pupils 
for a period of years. 


120 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“February 14, 1853. Today an addition to my family 
and to my responsibilities. A bright little Taichen Chi- 
nese boy, eleven years old, son of the old Chinese teacher 
of Mr. Gutzlaff. The old man is in trouble—a debt with 
interest. So he came to us offering to sell the lad, know- 
ing that the boy would be educated and in good hands. 
It is so difficult to secure any other way but by buying 
them, boys for any length of time for schools in Siam, 
that the end would almost justify the means, were we 
to actually buy them, as Siamese masters do. As it was 
I had a paper drawn up in which I was to have a boy 
for seven years for eight dollars, after which he was to 
be restored to the father free—a kind of apprenticeship.” 


The father was one of the cholera patients whom Dr. 
House saved from death. This lad’s name was Naah. 
Some nine months later the father, upon his death 
bed, gave the boy to Dr. House. 

A year or more later, commenting upon this prac- 
tise of obtaining boys for the school, the doctor said: 


“This we find is the best, if not the only way we can 
secure the keeping of these native children in our board- | 
ing school. And I do not hesitate to do it when we have 
the money to spare. At present have outstanding one 
hundred and nine dollars, invested in seven children.” 


And then he slyly wonders what the abolitionists at 
home would say if they heard of this plan of “ buying 
children” to educate them. In the course of a few 
years the boarding schools grew to fill the capacity of — 
the mission. From the beginning the curriculum in- 
cluded the principles of domestic economy and man- 
ual training in a practical form. The girls shared in 
the house work; the older ones also assisted in teach- 
ing the younger ones. The boys had their allotment 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 121 


of work, so that the expense of the school was kept at 
a minimum; for the first full year the cost was only 
two hundred and eighty-one dollars, exclusive of 
Kee-Eng’s salary. 


TO KORAT 


Tired from his confining labours, in December, 
1853, Dr. House set out for a tour to the distant city 
of Korat, some two hundred miles in a northeast 
radius from the capital, but involving nearly twice 
that distance of travel. The undertaking had the 
approval of King Mongkut, who not only issued the 
usual passport but sent a letter commanding all of- 
ficials to afford assistance and protection, and direct- 
ing the governor of Korat to give supplies and other 
facilities as might be required. The journey occupied 
fifty-eight days and was made partly by boat, partly 
by elephant train and partly by buffalo cart. A party 
of five trusty natives accompanied him, including Ati, 
his faithful teacher. 

Korat, the capital of the province of the same name, 
had a population of some thirty thousand. Dr. House 
was the first white person to visit the city, at least in 
modern times. The out journey was made by boat up 
the Meinam to Salaburi on an east branch of the 
stream two days above Ayuthia. There elephants 
were hired to carry the party with their burden of 
books and supplies. The course lay across country 
through the jungle and over the mountains, requiring 
seventeen days from Bangkok. In reporting home his 
safe return he wrote briefly: 


“T have not had time since my return to draw up a 


122 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


detailed account of all that befell me on the road, but I 
think I can promise you an interesting letter next time— 
that is, if a traveller’s tale of life in the woods, riding on 
elephants (being thrown from the back of one and lying 
at the mercy of the huge creature—with those great feet 
pawing the air six inches from my head), riding in buf- 
falo carts, footing it, roughing it; now shooting deer 
or peacock, now entirely out of provisions and making a 
meal of rice and burnt coarse sugar; seeing gréat tiger 
tracks and hearing their cry, sleeping in the open air by 
the watch fire, three nights and four days without seeing 
human habitation—with divers other adventures, will 
interest you; or if accounts of the glad reception my 
books and gospel message seemed to receive in the many 
villages and hamlets and in the city, where no messenger 
with glad tidings had ever gone before.” 


He was well received by the governor of the 
province, whom he had previously met in Bangkok. 
Intercourse with the governor proved that the doctor 
could not only show him wonders of western knowl- 
edge but could discover to him facts in his own realm 
of interests. Salt being a rare commodity and the ~ 
local product being coarse and black, Dr. House 
showed him how to purify it, greatly to his delight. 
As a mark of appreciation the governor had brought 
in from the country three unusually large elephants 
for the visitor to see; while reviewing them, the doc- 
tor called his attention to a fact of nature concerning 
elephants, viz.: that the height of an elephant is equal © 
to just twice the girth of its foot. His host would 
not believe this until he had his men try the experi- 
ment on several animals. The doctor had also found — 
that the elephant provides a reliable pedometer; as its 
walking gait is quite uniform, it is necessary only to 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 123 


measure the step of the particular beast (usually 
forty to forty-two inches) and then counting the 
number of paces per minute (usually seventy) the 
distance covered in a given time is easily calculated. 

An amusing incident occurred while the stranger 
was exploring the city, and Dr. House relates the 
story with an evident sense of humour: 


“ Sallied forth at noon to take a walk east of town. 
In east gate got into conversation with some citizens; 
others came out to gaze at the stranger till soon had a 
fair audience to listen as I opened to them the great 
truth of the Being of God. An old man sat down on a 
stone in the gateway to listen—all was news to him and 
others—when a drunken fellow, sent of Satan as it were, 
came up and soon became very noisy, till I could only 
talk in snatches. Gentle means nor threatenings availed, 
but I gave some books. 

“Leaving I was going quietly on the way to a watt 
outside the walls when my troubler came following after, 
noisy and cursing. I gave him that road and took an- 
other in another direction. He returned to follow me, 
when I thought I was justified in teaching him that there 
was a limit to even Christian patience. So I tripped up 
his heels, hoping to walk off out of his way before he 
could get to his legs again. But he was only drunk 
enough to be impudent, and now angrily followed after 
me. I picked up a broken limb and turned to meet my 
adversary. Brandishing my rather formidable weapon 
in the air over the fellow’s head, I ordered him to wheel 
about and march back.to the city gate. Many had 
gathered in the meantime to see what would happen. 
The fellow was frightened at my earnestness, quailed 
and marched; soon stopped to plead that he intended no 
harm, when I punched him with my umbrella with one 
hand to quicken his steps and flourished the sledge- 
hammer-like limb in the other, and off he marched again 


124 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


as bid. This I repeated till getting tired, I tripped up his 
heels again and left him sprawling while I went on my 
way unmolested. ... I cannot even now help laughing 
at the figure I must have made with my shillalah swing- 
ing over his head, and his mortal terror at the same.” 


Royal passports were not always honoured at face 
value by distant under governors. Dr. House found 
that while the king had commanded, the command was 
not much more than warrant for him to demand. 
After waiting some days for the governor to engage 
elephants for the return trip there was little hope of 
having his desire granted unless he took up the task 
himself. Vigourous action and persistence overcame 


the inhospitality which was displayed. The return 


trip was laid out through the western part of ancient 
Cambodia, through the Chong To’ko pass, thence to 
the headwaters of the Bang Pakong River, and home 
by way of Kabin and Patchin. ; 

Through this region he met with even great in- 
difference to the king’s commands: 


“On the long roundabout journey home from Korat, 
the person of whom I engaged my elephants took me for 


purposes of his own far round to the southeast of Kabin, - 


the point I wished to reach at the head of navigation on 
the Bang Pakong River. Not unwilling to see the coun- 
try, I put up with a good deal of imposition on the part 
of my guide . . . one of the greatest rogues I ever met. 
At the village where he resided I consented to proceed 
with buffalo carts instead of elephants at his urgency. 
We had travelled on with them some days when, one 
afternoon walking in advance of my party, I entered the 
little Cambodian village of Sakao, three miles east of 
Kabin on the military road to the capital of Cambodia! 
“ Here was an officer of the customs who was on the 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 125 


lookout for some Cochin Chinese soldiers who had de- 
serted from the king’s service; and they being unac- 
customed to a white face and I doubtless rather travel 
worn, and my appearance there unattended being de- 
cidedly suspicious, they were on the point of arresting 
me as a “ deserter,’ when first the name and then the 
presence of my guide (who after awhile came along 
with my outfit) made all right, for the custom officer 
and my guide were old friends. 

“ Expecting to get away after an early breakfast next 
morning, I slept in one of the carts... . Next morning 
I tried in vain to purchase a fowl; went over to the 
headman to beg him help me. “ He had no fowls, he did 
not think he could procure any in the village”; but 
while he was speaking I actually saw some running 
about under the house. I was beginning to think rather 
hard of Cambodian hospitality when, induced by triple 
price, a man slyly brought me a chicken. 

“While I was eating my breakfast, the custom house 
officer came over to visit his friend, my guide. Soon a 
neighbour brought in a large brass dish, and from the 
liquor in it the three quaffed and quaffed again, till they 
became very chatty and good humoured. I had finished 
my breakfast and the cart drivers were waiting for their 
master. But he was too pleasantly engaged to leave the 
jovial company he was in. In vain I called on him to 
eat his breakfast that we might be off, for the sun was 
high, and still three days remained of our journey and 
we had already lost much time on his account. “ Not 
yet, not yet,” he answered, and kept on sipping from the 
bowl of arrack. 

“Time passed. At 10: 30 they were still at their cups. 
My patience was now clear gone. To go on I was re- 
solved and no longer to be defrauded of my time by a 
knave. I told him ‘ go he must’ or I should go on with- 
out him and he should not receive a penny of the half- 
hire to be paid at the journey’s end, and I should report 
him to the governor of Korat, who had put me in his 
care. ‘And how will you go on without the buffalo 


126 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


carts?’ he impudently asked. ‘Do as I did when I went 
on to Korat; I will hire carriers here in the village and 
walk on.’ ‘Not a man shall leave this place to help 
you ’"—put in the custom house officer, ‘he would forbid 
their going.’ 

“T had said nothing to him before, but now I spoke: 
‘Mr. Officer, last night you heard my passport read and 
the peremptory order of the viceroy of Korat that I be 
not detained a single day on my mission —and I took 
him by the arm as I spoke and looked him in the face— 
‘You dare not stop me. Is his excellency the governor 
of Korat nobody? I have the royal seal, too—do you not 
dread that? Keep me here one half day more and you 
will repent of it.’ 

“His anger that was written on every line of his 
knavish face sobered him. The villagers around looked 
on astonished at my audacity, bearding this great man in 
his den, and he did not know what to make of it. Just 
then, my guide seeing that I was resolute in the matter, 
gave in, ordered the buffalos to be yoked and told his 
servants to drive ahead, he would follow. I took a 
formal but civil leave of the worthy; we were off, and 
my guide, running after, soon overtook us. Would you 
believe it, we proceeded but three quarters of an hour, 
when he drove off the highway to the shelter of some 
trees by the side of a swamp and there came to a halt, 
pretending it was necessary to feed the buffalos and that 
there was no suitable place beyond. So there two or 
more hours were lost—and this while one of my servants 
was very ill, our stock of provisions all low, and already 
seventeen days on a journey that should have taken 
but seven.” 


The river was finally reached; the buffalo caravan 
dismissed and boats engaged to carry the party to 
Bangkok, where they arrived after nineteen days’ 
travel from Korat. 

Two lesser trips were made in 1854, which were of 





PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 127 


some interest. In June, he accompanied the Baptist 
missionaries on a trip to Bangplasoi on the gulf: 


“T had long been promising myself a visit to my old 
patient, Chek Chong, the Chinese fisherman whose arm 
I amputated five or six years ago to save his life, threat- 
ened by mortification resulting from an alligator bite 
that had nearly severed the poor man’s wrist. The loss 
of his arm seems to have been under Providence the 
means of saving his soul, for the religious impression 
he received while in the hospital never left him; he then 
expressed himself willing to make our God his God. 
Being unable to read and not being able to speak Siam- 
ese at all... we referred him to our brethren of the 
Baptist mission with some of whose church members he 
was already acquainted. ... After a due season of in- 
struction and probation they received him to church 
membership about a year ago. 

“Living some sixty to seventy miles from Bangkok 
he cannot often see his spiritual teachers, and would be 
quite shut out from ‘religious privilege, were it not that 
Bangplasoi has been made a kind of an outstation 
by the Baptist mission. ... So when I was invited to 
accompany Mr. Ashmore to that mission, I readily 
eecepteds i: s 4 

“While there, Chek Chong told me that ever since he 
had lived with us at the hospital he had observed the 
Sabbath, refraining from labour. Looking around at 
the evidence of thrift about him, I replied: ‘I do not 
believe you are the poorer for losing one day’s work in 
seven.’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘while the fish business has 
turned out poorly this season, out of thirty engaged in 
it of my neighbours, only four have succeeded at all, 
and I am one.’ 

“We attended morning and evening worship with the 
family and such of their neighbours as chose to come in 
and listen. .. . Chek Chong being called on to lead in 
prayer, offered up thanks most devoutly that ‘the red- 


128 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


headed (1. e., not black like Chinese) foreign teachers 
had come to visit him.’ He seems to have much in- 
fluence for Christ; he is not ashamed of our Christ; 
two of his nephews are inquirers; the wife puts no 
hindrance in his way.” 


The other trip was made in November, when the 
doctor explored the Meinam “ farthest north” up to 
that date, reaching Pitsanuloke and Pichit and occu- 
pying thirty-three days. Some sixty to seventy vil- 
lages were visited along the way and more than 
thirteen hundred tracts given only to those who 
could read. 


CLOUDED FRIENDSHIPS 


The favour of the king was for a time withdrawn 
by reason of an incident the character of which was 
vague to the missionaries at the time. Later the cause 
of the estrangement was discovered to be a letter 
which appeared in an English journal at Straits Set- 
tlement in October, 1854. The offending letter not. 
only misrepresented some acts of the government but 
calumniated the character of the king, and insinuated 
that he was held in low esteem by the missionaries as 
well as by other foreigners. For some reason the king 
ascribed the authorship of this letter to a missionary 
who had recently passed through Singapore; and 
among his officials, as learned later, he threatened to © 
expel the missionaries except Dr. Bradley and Dr. 
House. 

The first warning of royal displeasure was the ar- 
rest of the Siamese teachers on the fictitious charge 
of teaching the sacred language to foreigners. Then 
the missionary ladies, presenting themselves at the 


PERIL INTO PRIVILEGE 129 


palace gate as usual for admission to teach their 
classes, were ignored. The missionaries, essaying to 
go out to the sea coast for recuperation learned that 
a decree had been issued to limit their movements; 
but inquiry received only evasive explanations. 
Finally the king sent a demand that the missionaries 
collectively should sign a paper disclaiming author- 
ship of the letter and denying in toto its imputation ; 
this demand was made before they had seen the letter, 
but it gave them an understanding of the trouble. 

After consultation they declined to assent to this 
demand, partly because it might be construed as an 
acknowledgment of responsibility, and partly because 
they considered it impolitic to make a general defense 
of the government, some of whose affairs they did not 
fully approve. However, they drew up a paper deny- 
ing their complicity in the publication and reaffirming 
their friendship towards the king. After several 
months the teachers were allowed to return to the mis- 
sion, but with an admonition against giving out “ false 
information lest the missionaries put it in their letters 
and send it out of the country ”; the decree of restric- 
tion, however, continued in force for some time. The 
servants, returning to the mission compound, reported 
the nature of the examination to which they had been 
subjected by the king, and Dr. House records the 
following: “ Being asked which missionaries he 
visited in his work, one replied ‘Maw House.’ 
‘Well,’ said the king, ‘Maw House is good hearted, 
affable and good humoured,’ and thus was evidently 
satisfied that the unfavourable reports could not be 
laid to the teachers.” 


Dr. House quietly pursued an inquiry into this mat- 


130 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ter, and after some months came to the conclusion 
that the instigator, if not the actual writer of the let- 
ter, was a certain Captain Trail, commander of one 
of the king’s trading vessels. It seems that while in 
Singapore port, one night at eleven o’clock the captain 
fired a salute in honour of a ball on shore given by a 
friend. The British consul complained to his superior 
against the alarm caused by the firing, and his gov- 
ernment forwarded the complaint to Bangkok. The 
captain was arrested and cast into a native gaol, which 
was crowded with low class prisoners, and was there 
for several days before his friends learned of the case. 
Some of the missionaries interceded for him and se- 
cured his release. When he left Bangkok he threat- 
ened to get even with the government for his treat- 
ment, and there was good reason to suppose that the 
letter was the means of revenge he took. 

This entry in Dr. House’s journal was annotated in 
pencil several years afterwards, adding “the letter 
was doubtless gotten up between Josephs (the Ar- 
menian merchant) and Capt. Eames, a friend of Cap- 
tain Trail, with the knowledge of the prime minister, 
who was piqued at the king, and whose knowledge of 
the state affairs had given the insinuations in the 
letter which aroused the king’s hostility.” Fortu- 
nately, time convinced the king of the total innocence 
of all the missionaries and in due time the cloud of 
disfavour vanished. 


VIll 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS—MORE 
WORKERS ENTER 


HE, accession of King Mongkut so completely 
changed the attitude of the government 


towards foreign nations that the danger of a 
clash with England disappeared over night. In due 
course of time Queen Victoria sent a note of con- 
gratulations to the new Siamese sovereign and ex- 
pressed her desire to send an envoy for the purpose 
of revising the existing treaty. Upon receipt of this 
letter the king despatched it to Dr. House with the 
request to “transcribe it in a plain, legible hand”; 
for though the king could read and write English 
fairly, he preferred to have letters from abroad tran- 
scribed in a handwriting with which he was familiar, 
to avoid misunderstanding. In this connection, Mrs. 
Leonowens, who acted as his English secretary some 
years later, says that at times the king would insist 
upon his own diction in English in spite of warning 
of its turgidity, and when his communications of this 
character were misinterpreted he would lay the blame 
on his amanuensis. 

In March, 1855, the English embassy arrived. The 
special envoy was Sir John Bowring, Vice-Admiral 
and Governor of the English colony at Hong Kong. 
Dr. House had, some years before, received a friendly 
letter from Sir John through his son John C, Bow- 


131 


132 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ring, for whom Dr. House was collecting specimens 
of Siamese insects; and he looked forward with great 
pleasure to a personal meeting with the noted English 
diplomat. Again the king sent to the doctor a suc- 
cession of notes received from Sir John announc- 
ing his arrival, requesting a private audience, etc., | 
desiring these notes to be transcribed; by which 
means Dr. House was kept informed of the progress 
of affairs. 

The reception of this embassy was in marked con- 
trast with the treatment of Sir James Brookes. The 
ceremonies were aglow with friendliness, and the ne- 
gotiations were undertaken with the least possible 
delay contingent upon the courtesies of the occasion. 
The prince who was chief commissioner for the Siam- 
ese sent for Dr. House for an interview; he said that 
the Siamese had proposed the missionaries as inter- 
preters on their side, but this had been declined by 
the ambassador on the ground that the missionaries 
were Americans. 


“Soon after [the prince] sent for me, to accompany 
him to the conference of the commissioners with Sir 
John to discuss the treaty. Found the prime minister 
there, who joined in urging me. But I felt constrained 
to decline the honour they would do me, feeling my 
incompetence to do justice in interpreting such impor- 
tant matters as might come up; then— Mr. Mattoon | 
must go ’—so the prince himself went over for him and 
carried him off as a ‘kind of companion,’ he said, not 
as translator ;—as he did not trust in ** but in the mis- 
sionary he did trust. ‘He must be as ears for him ’—I 
understood him that the king said this last night.” 


While negotiations were under way both Mr. Mattoon 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 133 


and Dr. House were frequently summoned to assist 
the Siamese in the official translation of their counter 
proposals into English, even working all night on the 
final draft. 


DR. HOUSE AND SIR JOHN BOWRING 


The confidences were not all from the Siamese side. 
Sir John Bowring told Dr. House privately that he 
had “come with an olive branch in my hand, but 
behind me—!” and that he had been reluctant to 
undertake the mission but had received letters from 
the king urging him to come. The Siamese officials 
were so. ready for negotiations that they readily 
acquiesced in the English proposals; and, apart from 
the preliminary ceremonies, the complete negotiations 
were accomplished within a week. 

In his book, The Kingdom and People of Stam, 
which gives a detailed account of his mission, Sir 
John includes several lengthy memoranda which he 
attributes to a “certain foreign gentleman long resi- 
dent in Siam.” Many of these are to be found re- 
corded in Dr. House’s private journal at various dates 
preceding the arrival of the British envoy. His nar- 
rative of the scenes attendant upon the choice of 
Mongkut is almost verbatim from the doctor’s ac- 
count. He highly praises the progressive spirit and 
the keen mind of the prime minister, contrasting him 
with the usual Oriental diplomat, and adds: 


“T learned that on one occasion he sent for a foreign 
gentleman whose opinion he greatly valued, and in the 
presence of many persons entered upon a dialogue in 
which the foreign gentleman was to impersonate J. 
Bowring in a discussion of the expected proposals.” 


134 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Thereupon follows the dialogue in full. The original 
of this unique rehearsal in diplomatic combat is found 
in the doctor’s journal as a record of his interview 
with the prime minister after it was learned that 
England was to send a mission. Sir John also ac- 
credits the minister with a confession of belief in one 
supreme Divine Being, ascribing his information to a 
“certain gentleman”; this confession, Dr. House 
Says, was made to him personally and acknowledges 
in a letter that he had reported it to the British envoy. 
The number and extent of these and still other quota- 
tions shows that Sir John Bowring had gleaned much 
of his knowledge of the Siamese from Dr. House. 


During his sojourn in Bangkok Sir John Bowring 
attended service at the mission one Sunday. Dr. 
House records the visit, noting that in alphabetical 
order it was his turn to preach, and confesses that he 
felt a little secret trembling in the presence of the 
august visitor. Sir John, in his account of the visit, . 
adds that the ‘“‘ congregation very sweetly sang one of 
my hymns ”—for he is the same Sir John Bowring 
whose name ranks high in hymnology, being the 
author of these hymns, among others: “ God is Love, 
His Mercy Brightens,’ “Watchman, Tell Us of the 
Night,” and “In the Cross of Christ I Glory.” 

As a broad and deep student of human affairs and ~ 
one obviously sympathetic with missions, Sir John’s 
estimate of the work in Siam at that period and of the 
peculiarly obstinate nature of Buddhism is note- 
worthy. Concerning Buddhism he says: 


“ Buddhism by habit and education is become almost a 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 135 


part of Siamese nature; and that nature will not bend to 
foreign influence. The Siamese, whether or not they 
have religious convictions, have habits which the teach- 
ing of strangers will not easily change.” 


Concerning the influence of the missionaries he says: 


“Much influence is really possessed by the mission- 
aries. ‘They have rendered eminent services in the 
medical and chirurgical fields; they have lent great as- 
sistance to the spirit of philosophical inquiry; many of 
them have been councillors and favourites of king and 
nobles, admitted to intimate intercourse and treated with 
a deference which could not but elevate them in the eyes 
of a prostrate, reverential and despotically governed 
people.” 


But concerning the prospects of success for the Gos- 
pel the diplomat is not so optimistic: 


“T know not what is to impede religious teachings in 
Siam, but at the same time I fear there is little ground 
to expect a change in the national faith. Neither Cath- 
olic nor Protestant speaks hopefully on the subject.” 


The significance of that statement, written for the 
year 1855, lies chiefly in its contrast with the fact of 
the certain if slow growth of Christianity in Siam and 
the record of attainment to date. Even the keenest 
human observer cannot forecast the fruits of the 
Spirit’s work. 


TREATIES WITH OTHER NATIONS 
In 1856 a diplomatic mission from the United 
States reached Bangkok, seeking a revision of the 
existing treaty. The mission was headed by Hon. 


136 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Townsend Harris, who, it is interesting to note, came 
from Sandy Hill, New York, the home of Mr. Mat- 
toon and Mr. Bush. The Siamese government was 
quite ready to negotiate, for they had the recent ex- 
perience to guide them and the English treaty for a 
model; and a new treaty was speedily effected. Had 
Dr. House been in Bangkok at this time, the Foreign 
Ministed assured him later that the Siamese govern- 
ment would have asked to have had him appointed 
first consul under the new treaty. 

In the same year a French embassy negotiated a 
treaty similar to that of the English and American. 
In one point, however, the French advanced a step. 
sir John Bowring could secure the right for the 
English to own lands or build houses only within 
twenty-four hours of Bangkok (a very extensible 
limit, as time has shown), and Mr. Harris accepted 
the same provision. The French, however, demanded 
and secured the provision that “ French missionaries 


may travel to any part of the kingdom and build — 


houses, churches, schools, hospitals, etc.” ; a privilege 
which immediately accrued to the Americans by rea- 
son of the “ favoured nation ”’ clause in their treaty. 


When the ratifications of the American treaty were 


exchanged, a year later, King Mongkut issued the 
following memorandum: 


“We now have embraced the best opportunity to have 
made and exchanged the treaty of friendship and com- 
merce with the United States of America, and we shall 
be very glad to esteem the President of the United 
States at present and in the future as our respected 
friend, and esteem the United States as united in close 
friendship, as we know that the government of the 


—_— 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 137 


United States must ever act with justice, and is not 
often embroiled in difficulties with other nations. 
“And if the treaty of friendship between the United 
States and Siam has been (shall be?) long preserved in 
harmony and peaceful manner it will ever be the occa- 
sion of the highest praise among the Siamese people. 
“ (Signed) Supremus REx SIAMENSIIUM, 
edo d MONGKUT.. 


The influence of the missionaries in bringing about 
the treaty relation of Siam with the Western world 
has been testified by several. The king himself sanc- 
tioned the following statement of esteem towards the 
missionaries for their influence on the country: 


“Many years ago the American missionaries came 
here. They came before any Europeans, and they 
taught the Siamese to speak and read the English lan- 
guage. The American missionaries have always been 
just and upright men. They have never meddled in the 
affairs of government, nor created any difficulties with 
the Siamese. They have lived with the Siamese just as 
if they belonged to the nation. The government of Siam 
has great love and respect for them and has no fear 
whatever concerning them. When there has been a 
difficulty of any kind, the missionaries have many times 
rendered valuable assistance. For this reason the Siam- 
ese have loved and respected them for a long time. The 
Americans have also taught the Siamese many things.” 


In the same line spoke the Regent, during the regency 
over Chulalonkorn, to United States Consul General 
Hon, George F. Seward: 


“ Siam has not been disciplined by English and French 
guns as China has, but the country has been opened by 
missionaries,” 


138 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


The recognition of the indirect influence of the mis- 
sionaries in facilitating the treaties was acknowledged 
by Dr. Wm. M. Wood, late surgeon-general in the 
United States Navy, who accompanied Mr. Harris on 
his diplomatic mission; stating in his book, Fankwes, 
that the 


“unselfish kindness of the American missionaries, 
their patience, sincerity and truthfulness, have won the 
confidence and esteem of the natives, and in some degree 
transferred those sentiments to the nation represented 
by the missions, and prepared the way for the free in- 
tercourse now commencing. It was very evident that 
much of the apprehension they felt in taking upon them- 
selves the responsibilities of a treaty with us would be 
diminished if they could have the Rev. Mr. Mattoon as 
the first United States Consul to set the treaty in 
motion.” 


A VISIT HOME 


The first decade of Dr. House’s service was draw- 
ing to a close without any apparent need for a fur- 
lough, as need was then understood. He had become 
acclimated, accustomed to conditions of Siamese life 
and was apparently contented with his bachelor state. 
That the tropics had proved to be more friendly than 
he had expected, is implied in his frequent expres- 
sions of surprise at continued good health, even assur- 
ing his friends at home that his physical condition was ~ 
better than before he left America. But this was not 
the common lot of missionaries in the early days. On 
the tenth anniversary of his departure from New 
York he wrote: 


“Of the company of the Grafton two already are dead 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 139 


and three compelled to return home from broken health. 
Mr. Mattoon and I alone are left on the field—besides 
Mrs. Mattoon, the eighth of the party.” 


The enervating conditions of life in Siam are de- 
scribed with good understanding by Mr. George B. 
Bacon in his volume on Stam: 


“It is when we remember the enervating influence of 
the drowsy tropics upon character that we learn fitly to 
honour the men and women by whom the inauguration 
of this new era in Siamese history has been brought 
about. To live for a little while among these sensuous 
influences without any very serious intellectual work to 
do or any grave moral responsibility to bear is one 
thing; but to live a life among them with such a con- 
stant strain upon the mind and heart as the laying of 
the Christian foundations among heathen must necessi- 
tate is quite another thing. 

“This is what the missionaries of Siam have to do. 
The battle is not with the prejudice of heathenism only, 
nor with the vices and ignorance of bad men only; it is 
a battle with nature itself. . . . The fierce sun wilts the 
vigour of his mind and scorches up the fresh enthusiasm 
of his heart... . Therefore I give the greater honour 
to the earnest men and to the patient women who are 
labouring and praying for the coming of the Christian 
day to this people.” 


When Dr. House parted with his parents in the 
New York harbour, it was with the mutual expecta- 
tion of never seeing each other again. The separation 
was intensified in its realism by the slowness of com- 
munication. His message announcing safe arrival in 
Siam did not reach his parents until thirteen months 
after his departure. Their response to this message 
was one which stirred his emotions to the depths and 


140 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


made him oblivious of all around him; it told of his 
father and mother and cousins kneeling together upon 
receipt of the news and offering thanksgiving for the 
beginning of his missionary work. The many friends 
who wrote letters to him doubtless never understood 
what joy they gave him by their messages. After 
receiving a consignment of mail he writes: “ Their 
letters do cheer, do strengthen, do inspire new re- 
solves, and make me ashamed of my unworthy 
service.” He records with expressions of esteem the 
names of those from whom he receives communica- 
tions by each mail; and to one who knows something 
of the home church these names stand as a roster of 
zealous workers, names of families that continue to 
the present day. 

The affectionate interest of the people was more 
than individual; it came to be almost a community 
interest. The “ monthly concert of missions ” saw the 


old session house filled with people eager to hear the — 
latest letter from their own foreign missionary. On. 


his part he kept in mind the day of these church 
gatherings and, allowing for the difference of time, 
he estimated that his Monday morning hour of devo- 
tions corresponded with the Sunday evening at home, 
and surmised “in our little session room at Water- 
ford many a fervent prayer was going up for me and 


my fellow labourers from those whose prayers will - 


prevail at the throne of grace.” 

It is not surprising that the home church grew 
mightily in the grace of giving and developed a gener- 
osity which, long before forward movements, attained 
a standard of giving more to beneficence than to their 
own work and led the Presbytery in their gifts to the 


ee Ee ae — a ee 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 14] 


foreign work. Arthur T. Pierson, D.D., who served 
the church as pastor 1863-9 and later became one of 
the most powerful public advocates of missions, bore 
this testimony to their zeal, on the occasion of the 
church’s centennial in 1904: 


“T owe much of my own enthusiasm for missions to 
my six years in this church. It was most active and 
ageressive in this department of service. It had its own 
missionary in the field, and kept in living contact with 
him by correspondence, gifts and prayer. This mission- 
ary atmosphere I breathed with immense profit, and I 
was compelled either to lead my people in missionary 
work or to resign my pastorate. My real missionary 
education began here in a church far ahead of me in 
inteligence and enthusiasm for God’s work.” 


No mention of home-going appears in Dr. House’s 
journal or correspondence till a letter from his 
mother, in 1852, shows her sternly-repressed desire 
to see her son: : 


“The Lord has a work for you to do in Siam, and 
much as I long to see you I would not call you home 
from it. But if health or benefit of mission require it, 
I would say ‘Come at once—come home that we may 
embrace you once more; and then return with new 
vigour to help forward that glorious work which is yet 
to be accomplished in Siam.’ ” 


More than a year later a joint letter from the parents 
enlarges upon the subject. First the father writes: 


“When your health should make necessary that you 
should have the invigourating influence of a sea voyage 
and our climate, you may tax me for the expense, if I 
should be spared. If not, I hope to leave sufficient at 


142 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


your disposal to relieve your mind from any anxiety on 
the subject. I am anxious only for you to be wise and 
to adopt the course most likely to prolong your life and 
to serve your Master as a missionary. Whether we shall 
be permitted to meet again on earth is a small matter 
(although there is nothing here that would offer me 
more happiness) when compared with the magnitude of 
the work in which you are engaged. Therefore I can 
say with your dear mother that I cheerfully submit to 
the disposal of Him who has crowned our lives with 
lovingkindness and who will order all that concerns our 
children and ourselves for His own glory.” 


His mother then adds: 


“T hope that you will not think because I do not ask 
you to come home that we do not desire to see you—we 
do indeed long for your return that we may see you in 
the flesh. But we cannot, dare not ask you to desert 
your post which we feel is one of great honour and re- 
sponsibility ; and we trust you may be made an instru- 
ment in the hand of God for doing much for the interest — 
of the Redeemer’s kingdom.” 


Just at this juncture occurred the beclouding of 
friendship on the part of King Mongkut. As the 
mission work came to a Standstill, the missionaries 
held a conference to determine their course of pro- 
cedure. Dr. House was ready to carry out his long- 
cherished plan to transfer his labours to Lao, but the’ 
decree forbidding travel rendered this impossible. 
The letter of his parents had insinuated into his mind 
the alternative of a visit to America. When he cas- 
ually mentioned this to his fellow missionaries they 
gave cordial and earnest approval. The expectation 
of the early arrival of a recruit to their force removed 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 143 


the objection of leaving the Mattoons alone. Then 
came the visit of Sir John Bowring, with his eventual 
offer of a free passage to Singapore. Availing him- 
self of this offer, Dr. House left Siam in April, 1855, 
and sailed for America via England, reaching home 
in midsummer. 


WELCOME HOME 


It was indeed a joyous homecoming. The son had 
come again to the embrace of loving parents after an 
absence of nine years. He had returned to his native 
land after many adventures in a strange country, 
little known to the Western world. He had returned 
to a church that keenly felt the solemnity of her com- 
mission to preach the Gospel and had high reverence 
for her servants that carried the banner. He had 
brought back first hand knowldge of pagan lands and 
vivid memories of personal experiences and observa- 
tions. Then a returned missionary was more rare 
than even a departing missionary. The Church at 
large was eager to see through the missionary’s eyes 
the strange peoples to whom they were sending the 
Gospel message. 

Numerous opportunities came to Dr. House to tell 
his story. Large audiences greeted him wherever he 
appeared. These opportunities he used especially to 
awaken the Church to the importance of the work in 
Siam. The periods of obstruction were past. The 
treaty with England had just been completed, and the 
American government was about to send an envoy to 
ask foratreaty. The glowing promise of the sunrise 
inspired the hearts of people at home to listen with a 
ready mind to his appeal. With great joy he secured 


144 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


two ready recruits to go back with him, Rev. and 
Mrs..A. B. Morse. Following this visitation to the 
churches a new interest in Siam is manifest through 
the reports, and there began a series of reinforce- 
ments checked only by the Civil War. 


BELATED MARRIAGE 


During this sojourn in America Dr. House was 
married on November 27, 1855, to Miss Harriet 
Maria Pettit, formerly of Waterford. The marriage 
came as a surprise to most of his friends. He had so 
frequently declared that he would never marry that 
his change of mind came without warning. His mis- 
sionary friends had frequently twitted him on this 
subject, but in good part he defended his position. 
Usually after these banterings he would enter in his 
journal the reason why he chose to go out single and 
why he thought best to remain unmarried. | 

His argument was that it would have been an im-_ 
position upon a woman to have led her into a strange 
world, into a primitive state of civilisation, afar from 
kin and friends. He persuaded himself that the care 
of a wife, the anxiety for her safety and the responsi- 
bility of rearing children would seriously interfere 
with his one great purpose, an undivided attention to 
the propagation of the Gospel. The Siamese, among 
whom polygamy was practised, could not understand 
why this one missionary had no wife. Several of the 
princes suggested that he take a Siamese woman in 
marriage, and one nobleman even offered to provide 
a wife for him. 

However, there are indications that his arguthents 
were as much to repress his own idea as to confute 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 145 


the bantering. During those years he was a perma- 
nent guest at the family of the Mattoons. He fre- 
quently expresses generous appreciation of sharing 
the home comforts of his friends, and confesses that 
he did not know how he could have gotten along 
without this domestic care of Mrs. Mattoon. Thus 
while stoically denying the need of a wife he grate- 
fully accepts the ministrations of the wife of his 
colleague. , 

Then, after having married and having fully set- 
tled in a home of his own, his real feelings assert 
themselves, for he writes, upon return to Siam: 


“And mine, too, is a pleasant home, the one to which 
four weary months voyaging have brought me, a pleas- 
anter home than once—for it has a new inmate. Taking 
such a partner into the concern is indeed a great addi- 
tion to a bachelor establishment.” 


And a year later: 

“You don’t know how nicely we are jogging on in 
the good old road of domestic felicity. And when you 
hear me say at the end of fourteen months that I am 
more fully than ever of the opinion that I have as my 
companion in my journey the most suitable one for me 
that could have been found had I tarried seven months 
or seven years longer in the States, you will allow that, 
at least, I am contented with my choice.” 


He shows the reversal of mind on this subject com- 
plete when, in 1871, he writes: 


“T must confess that I feel this wholesale sending out 
of unmarried women into the field just now so in vogue 
in our church is an experiment. . . . And I do not think 


146 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


much better of the sending unmarried young men to 
some fields. ’Tis a pity the secretaries of our Board who 
ought to know the wisest way do not guide opinion on 
this subject and more strongly impress upon candidates 
who apply to them the desirableness of making their ar- 
rangements before they leave home—not but what 
Providence may bless some favoured mortals more than 
they deserve.” 


ORDINATION AND RETURN 


Another event of personal moment to the doctor 
was his ordination to the Christian ministry. Before 
his first departure for Siam he had been licensed to 
preach, a Presbyterial authorisation necessary to give 
the seal of approval to the preaching which it was 
expected would be incidental to the medical profes- 
sion. But now, having given himself exclusively to 
the Gospel work he sought full ordination with its 
authority to administer the sacraments and perform 
the rites of the church. In January, 1856, he was 
duly ordained by the Presbytery of Troy. 

Accompanied by the new recruits, Rev. and Mrs. 
A. B. Morse, Dr. House and his bride sailed in 
March, 1856, by way of England and Singapore, and 
arrived at Bangkok in July. The reception accorded 
Dr. and Mrs. House was an evidence of the position 
which the missionary had attained in the esteem of 


the Siamese. He was the recipient of many gifts © 


from the Chinese and Siamese servants and attendants 
at the mission; while a period of two weeks was 
largely occupied with calls from the prime minister, 
the minister of foreign affairs, several of the princes, 
many of the old friends among the nobles, the old 
teachers and a multitude of native friends at large. 


_— Se 


> 4 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 147 


The welcome was so spontaneous that it gave evidence 
of a genuine honour, and of an appreciation of the 
years of service rendered by the doctor higher than 
he had imagined the people felt. 

But perhaps the most signal token of esteem on this 
occasion was shown by King Mongkut. No advance 
notice of the arrival of Dr. House and party having 
been received, their appearance at the customs house 
some miles below the city was a surprise, which in 
some manner was quickly heralded to the king, so 
that when the party approached the city, officials 
were waiting to receive them: 


“Before we got to our own landing our friendly 
neighbour, H, R. H. Prince Kromma Luang Wongsa, 
hailed us, and we must needs land at his place. Shak- 
ing of hands was not enough, but his arm was offered in 
English fashion ... and thus escorted by the leading 
prince of the kingdom was Harriette conducted to her 
future mission home, Mr. Mattoon and I following. 
. .. And soon our native church members and teachers 
and the school children came flocking around. 

“ But the king had heard of my arrival and the prince 
had a message from him for me that he was waiting to 
see me at the palace. So, thither I must go—the prince 
took me in his own boat. Some public ceremony was 
going on, and the whole court was assembled at the river 
house in front of the palace. The king, on a lofty plat- 
form handsomely roofed over, by the water edge; while 
yet at a distance he saw me and called out my name, 
inviting me to ascend the steps that led to his pavilioned 
seat, when he shook hands cordially. His Majesty spoke 
of the letter he had received from me while away. Then 
he said, ‘Your wife has come with you! ’—and then 
turning to his courtiers added, ‘Formerly Maw House 
declared he would not have a wife, and now he has 
taken one.’ ‘Oh, your majesty,’ I replied, ‘wisdom has 


148 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


come to me and I have changed my heart in that mat- 
ter,’ which made them all smile. 


“He then said my wife must come and visit the royal 


palace. He had missed me very much. I must come and 
live near him. Turning to one of his ministers he said, 
“He guessed they must build a house over there’ (point- 
ing out a spot near the palace). I must take an office 
under the government. The prime minister told me I 
must become a Siamese nobleman.” 


Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon were sent for again by 
the king a few days later, and availed themselves of 
this occasion to present to His Majesty several useful 
presents sent out by American admirers. 


TOURS WITH MRS. HOUSE 


While in America, in 1855, the Sunday school of 
his home church provided funds for the purchase and 
outfitting of a boat for touring. The result was a 
boat equipped for the work, affording more comfort 
than possible in the native boats. Along the side of 
the small cabin, lockers were fitted, serving both as 
seats and place for storage. A removable table be- 
tween afforded space for writing or eating. For the 


night an extension bridged the space between the 


lockers, and this, covered with cushions, made a 
comfortable double bed. In December of 1856 Dr. 
House made the first tour with Mrs. House. Cus- 
toms, and scenes in Siam had by this time grown 
so familiar to him that his letters home do not 
contain details as did his earlier letters. ‘Their first 
tour together, in company with some of the other 
missionaries, was up the Meklong River in western 
Siam as far as the town of Kanburi amidst some fine 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 149 


mountain scenery. Several other trips occurred; one 
of them to Petrui: 


“A fortnight or more,” he writes, “exploring some 
of the totally unvisited districts of the eastern portion 
of the plain which constitutes central Siam—you know 
my passion for penetrating into remote and unexplored 
regions and out of the way places.” 


If perchance this enthusiasm conveys the impres- 
sion that these journeys were of unmingled pleasure 
and simple romance it is well to have that fancy 
checked by some material facts; for, continuing the 
narrative of this trip, the doctor writes: 


“Upon review of the tour I can recall but few that I 
remember with more satisfaction. But for pleasure—I 
cannot say much for a tour. Our confined quarters 
(cabin five by seven), the rocking of the boat with 
every movement of. ours or of the boatmen, the hot sun 
upon the roof and sides by day and the myriads of mos- 
quitos as the evening comes on (and such ravenous 
merciless mosquitos, too), the monotony of the scenery 
on the lower stream and absence of all that is pretty or 
picturesque in the villages and houses of the natives, 
and last but not least the universal uproar among all the 
dogs whenever one steps ashore anywhere in their vil- 
lages—all detract largely from the romance and not a 
little from the comfort of a mission tour in this 
country.” ) 


MARKS OF GROWTH 


Dr. House continued to be superintendent of the 
mission school after his return in 1856, and although 
he makes very few references to this work in his 
journal from now on, yet there are occasional items 


150 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


which mark the growth. From this period Mrs. 
House appears as a factor in the educational work, 
but her achievements will occupy a separate chapter. 
In August after the return the doctor writes: 


“Our school is much enlarged—many applicants to 
learn English. The eldest child of the son of the Prime 
Minister now comes regularly to Mrs. Mattoon, a very 
bright lad of seven. At the request of the king I am 
teaching two princes; one of sixteen, his grandson, the 
other a grandson of the late king, a boy of eleven. And 
by order of H. M. a dozen of the sons of his servants 
are now learning English in our school as day schol- 
ars. ... There is a spacious bamboo school house going 
up in the back part of our lot.” 


This growth, however, was in the educational work. 
While the workers did not belittle the importance of 
the school, they were well-nigh sick of heart with 
deferred hopes, a feeling that is reflected in their 
report to the Board for the year 1856: 


“It requires no little faith to conduct, day after day 
and year after year, these patient labours; especially as 
they have not resulted in the conversion of those on 
whom time, talents and prayers of the missionaries are _ 
spent.” | 


This increase in school was so rapid that shortly 
after they had established themselves on the site 
granted by the king it became evident that this lot in 
the city would not allow for the expansion com- 
mensurate with the growth. With the awakening of 
a desire for education and of an interest in the foreign 
religion the earlier necessity of having a location 
within the city itself had passed, for what the mission 





SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 151 


had to offer was being sought after. Accordingly, a 
parcel of ground, the gift of Mr. D. O. King, was 
obtained on the west bank of the river in the lower 
suburbs known as Sumray. There new buildings 
were erected, and in November, 1857, the transfer of 
the mission was effected to that site, which became 
the scene of the most notable achievements of the 
mission in Bangkok and continues to the present day 
the center of a pervasive Christian influence. 

At the end of the first year in the new location, Dr. 
House wrote home: “ School occupies me much of the 
time. We have a new Siamese teacher, a most re- 
spectable old gentleman; may he get good from us, 
saving good.” ‘This teacher was Nai Chune, who, a 
year later, became the first Siamese convert. The 
significance of this addition to the teaching force is 
that the pupils are no longer predominantly Chinese 
lads, but that the demand for teaching the Siamese 
language requires a native teacher. 

The winter season, being free from rains, was the 
time best suited for touring in the country. In Feb- 
ruary of 1858 Dr. and Mrs. House started up the 
Meinam to revisit the scenes of their former tour. 
Finding the river alive with pilgrims going to Prabat 
for the annual veneration of Buddha’s footprint, they 
decided to join the pilgrimage as affording an excel- 
lent opportunity for distributing tracts. On this visit 
to the shrine the visitors did not experience the same 
opposition to entering the sanctum as Dr. House had 
on his first visit. 


A PRESBYTERY ORGANISED 
The recruits to the mission force so far had been 


152 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


temporary additions only. Owing to the death of his 
wife, followed by the failure of his own health, Mr. 
Bush was compelled to resign after four years. Mr. 
Morse, who went out upon Dr. House’s return, was 
forced to give up within two years by reason of 
health. At the end of ten years there had been only 
one net increase in the mission force, Mrs. House. In 
1858 two men arrived who became important factors 
in the work, Rev. Daniel McGilvary and Rev. Jona- 
than Wilson, with his wife. When the announce- 
ment was received that these two men had been com- 
missioned, Dr. House wrote home: 


“These two friends became interested in Siam mis- 
sion at the time of my visit to Princeton. If they reach 
us, I shall have new reason to bless the heavenly Guide 
who led me almost unwillingly back to my native land.” 


The doctor’s estimate of the reflex benefit to Siam 
from that trip to America was all too modest; for 
that visit was the beginning of an ever increasing in- 
terest in that country on the part of the church and of 
a constantly enlarging supply of men and money. 
Concerning this visit to Princeton, Dr. McGilvary | 
says in his Autobiography : 


“T was entering upon my senior year when it was an- 
nounced that Dr. S. R. House, of Siam, would address 
the students. Expectation was on tip-toe to hear from 
this new kingdom of Siam. The address was a revela- 
tion to me.... My hesitation was ended... . 

“The call found Jonathan Wilson and myself in much 
the same state of expectancy, awaiting for a clear reve- 
lation of duty. After anxious consultation and prayer 
together and with Dr. House, we promised him that we 





SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 153 


would give the matter our serious thought; and that if 
the Lord should lead us thither we would go.” 


With the increase of ordained men on the field, the 
time seemed ripe to associate themselves together in 
the official relationship of a Presbytery. At an in- 
formal meeting in the summer of 1858 the following 
call was issued: 


“Whereas, in the providence of God there are now in 
the mission a sufficient number of ordained ministers to 
constitute a Presbytery and as it seems expedient that 
we, cut off as we are from the privileges and oversight 
of our respective Presbyteries, should meet together 
from time to time in a formal public capacity as a 
judicatory of the Church of Christ to consult for her 
best interests in this our field of labour; and hoping 
that it may be beneficial to ourselves and the Church 
at large, 

“Therefore, Resolved, That in accordance with the 
resolutions of the General Assembly held in Baltimore 
in May, 1848, making provision for ‘the formation of 
Presbyteries by the action of missionaries in foreign 
fields’ a Presbytery be constituted at Bangkok on the 
first day of September next, to be called the Presbytery 
of Siam and to be composed of the following persons, 
viz.: Rev. Stephen Mattoon and Rev. S. R. House, of 
the Presbytery of Troy, New York; Rev. J. Wilson, of 
the Presbytery of Beaver, Pennsylvania, and Rev. Dan- 
iel McGilvary, of the Presbytery of Orange, North 
Carolina; and that said Presbytery be opened by a ser- 
mon by Rev. S. Mattoon, the oldest of the ministers of 
the mission; and 

“Resolved, second, That the day of the opening of 
the Presbytery be observed by the members of the mis- 
sion as a day of special prayer for the blessing of the 
Spirit of God upon us, and that a special meeting for 
prayer be held at 9 A. M.” 


154 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


At the appointed time the Presbytery of Siam was 
formally organised, Rev. Samuel R. House being 
chosen first Moderator and Rev. Daniel McGilvary 
being elected Stated Clerk. Mr. Mattoon, who was 
about to take a furlough in America, was appointed 
the first commissioner to the General Assembly, to 
meet in Indianapolis the following spring. Here, 
again, as in the organisation of the first church, the 
missionaries were taking a step in anticipation of the 
fruit of faith more than in actual need. Two of 
the very important functions of a Presbytery are to 
oversee the churches and to ordain candidates for the 
ministry. But there was only one church in Siam at 
the time and there were only two “ native ” members 
on the roll; and a Presbytery could add little to the 
fellowship of the missionaries except the formalities. 
However, the workers in the field were certain of the 
harvest and in simple faith they went about setting up 
the organisation for the proper care and nurture of 
the native churches that were yet to be established. 

In December of 1858, when the dry season had re- 
turned, Dr. House, accompanied by Mr. McGilvary, 
made a twelve-day tour up the Meinam, commencing 
labours at Angtong and continuing as far as Ban-. 
saket. The results of the tour were unusually 
hopeful : 


“In two or three instances it did seem as if the Spirit 
had prepared their hearts to welcome the doctrine of 
Christianity....I could not but say to my good 
Brother McGilvary, who as well as myself was struck 
with the deep interest manifested, ‘Surely there must 
be much prayer going up for us here in Siam.’ Tears 
would come in my eyes as I solemnly urged them to 


SIAM OPENS HER DOORS 155 


leave their refuge of lies and trust in a living Saviour, 
ready and mighty to save. And on their part they de- 
sired to know, not how they might make merit (the 
usual question of Siamese), but what they were to do to 
secure the salvation, the news of which then for the 
first time reached their ears. It seemed like the dawn- 
ing of a better day.” 


TX 


FIRST THE DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 


N the annals of missions much has been made of 
the long years of patient labour before a first 
convert was gained in other lands. It is written 

of Judson that he preached the Gospel six years in 
Burma before a native made confession of the Chris- 
tian faith. Morrison patiently taught the Gospel 
seven years in China before he was rewarded with 
one disciple. The Telegu mission in India is de- 
scribed as one of the most remarkable in the history 
of missions in the contrast between the first long 
fruitless period and then the rapid growth; and in 
confirmation it is cited that “at the end of two dec- 
ades only one native assistant could be reported, one 


church with nine members and two schools with | 


sixty-three pupils.” 
But in Siam, from the time Dr. Gutzlaff arrived 
until the first enduring convert from ameng the Siam- 


ese was gained, thirty-one years elapsed. It is true 


that during those years much of the energy of the 
other missions had been directed toward the conver- 
sion of the ex-patriate Chinese, from whom there had 
been an encouraging response; none the less, the 
Siamese were also the object of constant prayer and 
faithful wooing. From the time that Dr. House and 
Mr. Mattoon reached Siam to devote themselves par- 
ticularly to the winning of the Siamese, twelve yedrs 


156 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 157 


and six months passed before one lone Siamese re- 
nounced the faith of his fathers and acknowledged the 
Christian religion to be the truth. .These wearisome 
years of waiting were lengthened in their tediousness 
by the chagrin of having impostors simulate conver- 
sion for iniquitous ends. 

The story of this remarkable first native convert is 
best given by Dr. House in his own way. First under 
date of March 6, 1859, he writes home of the promise 
of the firstfruit: 


“T have had a long talk with Nai Chune. Since the 
fourth month of last year he has been convinced of the 
truth of Christianity. He has broken the necks of his 
household gods and melted them. ‘If I think he vener- 
ates the gods still he will go into the temple and do the 
same.’ ‘Those stories in their sacred books about its 
raining diamonds and gold he regards not like the 
beneficent miracles of Christ which I told him. 

“T was going to give him some idea of the historical 
evidences when he cut me short by saying, ‘I have tried 
Buddhism—and what benefit has it been to me? I have 
thrown away a large part of my life in studying it. But 
I was a child then—God must forgive me.’ He has 
ceased to gamble and to drink spirits, to both of which 
he formerly was addicted. He says that he sometimes 
weeps with joy when he thinks of God’s goodness to 
him. He prays to Jehovah, keeps the Sabbath, and for 
months has been a faithful attendant on preaching, to 
which he often invites his acquaintances, bringing them 
with him. 

“He is an educated man of about forty years, has a 
wife but no living children. He was once a priest, in 
the king’s own watt for some eight years. At one time 
he used to call upon me often and learned several chem- 
ical experiments. Since the mission moved to its new 
location in his neighbourhood (where he has a small 


158 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


property) he called to renew acquaintance. I had much 
conversation with him formerly about religion; but he 
seemed almost too willing to believe. I mistrusted his 
motives, past experience having made me too cautious 
perhaps. When he called subsequently I had no confi- 
dence in his sincerity. Mr. Mattoon, however, thought 
somewhat better of him. 

“ He is now the Siamese teacher of our school, and is 
very faithful to his duties. The most interesting feature 
of his case and what, with other things, has removed 
my doubts, is the true moral courage with which he 
avows his change of his belief to his countrymen and 
relatives. I do not think anything but the grace of God 
could make a Siamese brave enough to do this.” 


Five months later, the doctor records the reception 
of the convert into the Mission Church on Aug. 
7, 1859: 


“My eyes have at length been permitted to see what 
has long been my heart’s desire and prayer to God, the 


baptism of a Siamese. Nay, to my unworthy hands has | 


this privilege fallen, to receive into the visible fold of 
Christ by the ordinance of His appointing this new 
member of the flock. 


“For over twelve years of hope deferred has this 


great blessing been sought and prayed for, but ‘sought 
and never found’ till now. Blessed be the name of Him 
who in His mercy and sovereign grace has been pleased 
to visit us with His favour and make the teaching and 
preaching of His servants here the means at last of 
bringing one heathen soul out of nature’s darkness into 
the light and peace of His kingdom. 

“Nai Chune, a Siamese, an educated man of nearly 
forty years of age, after a satisfactory examination on 
his views and experience was today received to our fel- 
lowship by baptism in the sacred name of the Father, 
the Son and the Holy Ghost. May he walk worthily of 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 159 


the name he has named today, and be a witness for 
Christ his God and Saviour among his countrymen. He 
appears remarkably well. He is courteous and intelli- 
gent, a true Siamese gentleman in manners; is serious- 
minded, sedate, seems to realise the goodness of his 
Heavenly Father to him.” 


The joy of this conversion was soon followed by a 
shadow of sorrow. For a little more than three 
months later occurred the death of faithful Quakieng. 
Fortunately the work among the Siamese had devel- 
oped so favourably that less emphasis was being 
placed on the instruction in Chinese; and in a sense 
Nai Chune took the place of Quakieng, but with a 
transfer of the major effort to the teaching of the 
Siamese language. 

During this year King Mongkut had finished a new 
grand audience hall in connection with the palace, 
fashioned partly in European style. At the opening 
of the hall the king gave a feast to which many of 
the European and American sojourners were invited, 
among whom were Mr. and Mrs. House. In a letter 
to his father the doctor tells privately of a proffer of 
honour and service made to him by the king: “ H. M. 
said, ‘ You with your wife must come and live here 
[at the palace] and have the young princes, my chil- 
dren, for your pupils.’ I excused myself, my hands 
being already full.” With the cessation of teaching 
by the missionary ladies in the palace, the king had 
engaged an English lady, Mrs. Leonowens, as a tutor 
for some of the inmates of the palace, including his 
sons. Apparently, however, her teaching duties di- 
minished after a time and she was occupied chiefly as 
an amanuensis for the king, and she was still con- 


160 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


nected with the palace at the time the king made this 
request of Dr. House. 

Whether the king had serious intent in this proposi- 
tion it is difficult to judge; but the suggestion does 
indicate that he still held Dr. House in high regard 
_and that his estimation for Western education had not 
waned. ‘The mission school by this time had become 
a well-established, well-organised institution, the man- 
agement of which required the full attention of the 
doctor. His original term of service as Superin- 
tendent continued until 1861, when relinquishment of 
the office was apparently due to the fact that he was 
appointed to open a new mission station at Petchaburi. 


NEW STATION AT PETCHABURI 


Although the work at Bangkok had been steadily 
growing, no extension of the field was undertaken until 
1861, when a station was opened at Petchaburi, where 
Dr. House and Mr. Mattoon had made several visits. 
In that year two new missionaries with their wives - 
had come out in company with Rev. and Mrs. Mat- 
toon on their return from furlough in America; these 
were Rey. S. G. McFarland and Rev. N. A. McDon- 
ald. Of the many places where the missionaries had 
visited with the hopes of one day establishing a local 
work, Petchaburi then seemed the most favourable 
because the acting governor had personally solicited ~ 
the missionaries to provide teaching of English; and 
had offered, on condition that they would teach his 
son the language, to provide a place for their school. 

The Mission had voted to assign Dr. and Mrs. 
House to establish the new station. The doctor vis- 
ited the field, procured a lot and made ready for the 





DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 161 


work, and then returned to bring his wife. But the 
day before their departure, the doctor had the mis- 
fortune to fall from a horse, sustaining injuries which, 
at the time, it was feared would prove to be perma- 
nent. Under these circumstances the mission changed 
the appointment, and sent instead Revs. Daniel Mc- 
Gilyary and $. G. McFarland with their wives, who 
thus became the first occupants of the new mission. 

At this point it will be interesting to note that in 
his journal, in 1861, Dr. House records that the mis- 
sionaries had felt constrained to ask the Board for an 
increase in salary from the prevailing six hundred 
dollars to seven hundred dollars, giving as a reason 
that the cost of living had greatly increased since the 
country had been opened to Western commerce, so 
that articles of provisions had in some cases increased 
as much as one hundred per cent. Dr. House himself 
had received a patrimony at the death of his father, 
which he used not only to supplement his salary for 
living expenses, but very generously for assisting in 
the work of the mission. Entries in the journal indi- 
cate that he had undertaken, at his own expense, 
repairs and enlargement of the mission house in which 
he lived. 


THE REMARKABLE STORY OF NAI KAWN 


Within a month after the new station at Petchaburi 
was opened, the missionaries reported the extraordi- 
nary case of a Siamese who had come to believe upon 
God and Christ through portions of the Scripture 
that had come into his hands, although he had never 
seen a missionary and had never met a Christian. 
The name of this man was Nai Kawn. Writing to 


162 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


his family in America under date of July 17, 1861, 
Dr. House quotes in part from a letter which Mrs. 
McFarland had written to Mrs. House giving the 
story; and in part from Mr. McGilvary: , 


“T wish Dr. H. could be here to examine a ‘ diamond’ 
we have found here (1. e., a native of Petchaburi, which 
name means ‘city of diamonds’). We do believe it a 
true, genuine diamond, and though it needs to be pol- 
ished it will one day shine in our Saviour’s diadem in 
glory. It seems an extraordinary case in many respects. 
The man is a middle aged Siamese, resides about five 
miles from Petchaburi capital; had never seen a mis- 
sionary, but some of our Christian tracts and portions 
of the Scripture—which he had got from his neighbours 
—appears to have been the means of enlightening his 
mind and converting his heart. He had taught his little 
boy the Lord’s prayer and the ten commandments.” 

“Mr. McG. writes: He certainly has the clearest idea 
of the Scripture of any heathen convert I. have met with. 
He literally knows John, Acts, Romans (all the Bible he 
has yet seen) by heart; can repeat whole chapters with- . 
out missing a word. He evidently studied for months 
and years. ... Seems delighted to find us, as if his 
highest wish had been realised. Wishes to come and 
live with us at once to learn more perfectly the Gospel, 
and to assist to teach and distribute books. To try his 
sincerity, no encouragement was offered him, fearing 
he might wish support from the missionary. ‘Oh, no,— 
he wished no compensation, as he had enough to live | 
on.’ He has a few hundred ticals and wants no more. 
He has settled one son with three hundred ticals, and 
the other son he has just left with us where he can be 
taught the Christian religion. Says he would not give 
up the new religion for the offer of being king of Siam. 
Comes to worship, walking five miles over muddy roads. 
Longs to see another Siamese Christian—has hunted all 
over to find one.” 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 163 


In the fall of that year Dr. and Mrs. House were 
obliged to spend several months in Petchaburi to re- 
lieve the McFarlands, who went to Bangkok for 
medical attendance. During that sojourn the doctor 
had several conversations with Nai Kawn; and in 
letters to his brother in America narrates the confes- 
sion of that remarkable convert: 


“Doctor, the Siamese think only of getting a living. 
That they must have nor always are they very scrupu- 
lous as to the means they resort to. Before—in the days 
of my sinfulness—I was so too. Then I had not re- 
flected upon, was not attentive to my condition. I saw 
myself a sinner; when I became conscious of this, the 
Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to forgive me. 

“My wife formerly—when I began to talk in the 
house with those that.came to see me about the religion 
of Jesus—would go away, stop her ears, would say ‘I 
won't hear it,’ and off she would go. Now she says 
nothing, listens, sometimes says there is good in it; will 
hear me when I pray in the room at night. 

“T remonstrated with my neighbours but, Doctor, 
they are wilfully set in their wickedness. But, Doctor, 
we cannot make them repent. It is only those whom 
God pleases to choose. 

“They tell me that when the king hears that I have 
become a disciple of Jesus I shall be whipped. [I tell 
them, if he kills me I care not. If the Lord gives me to 
die, I must die as the Lord willeth. But while I live, I 
must bring forth fruits to offer Him.” 


Nai Kawn was never formally enrolled in the 
Church. He had found the acme of joy and of lib- 
erty in the Gospel before he knew of the church as an 
organisation. The witness of his conduct, the testi- 
mony of his lips and the evidence of his fellowship 
with Christians was more vital and compelling than a 


~ 


164 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


formal profession of ecclesiastical relationship. ‘The 
honour of having been the first. native at Petchaburi 
to become a member of the Church was gained two 
years later by Nai Kao. 

Another honour of primacy in the profession of 
religion was attained at Bangkok in 1861, when Maa 
Esther became the first Siamese woman to unite with 
the Church of Christ. She had been given, a poor 
sick child, to Mrs. Mattoon by her father at an early 
age; and had been adopted and reared by Mrs. Mat- 
toon. She had accompanied her foster mother to 
America in this same year. Maa Esther has con- 
tinued a faithful, consistent Christian all these re- 
maining years, and has been a zealous worker for the 
cause of Christ. 

What was the final evangelising tour by Dr. House 
was taken in 1862, when, accompanied by Rev. N. A. 
McDonald, who had lately joined the mission, and 
Rev. Robert Telford, who was maintaining the Bap- 
tist work among the Chinese in Siam, he made a trip — 
along the eastern coast of the gulf as far as Chanta- 
boon. The responsibility for the school, together with 
the condition of Mrs. House’s health, made it incon- 
venient for him to continue this phase of the work 
which he greatly enjoyed. 


PERIOD OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 


During the Civil War in the United States the mis- 
sion was not very seriously affected by the conditions 
of the home church. Except for the first injunction 
from the Board against enlargement of the work and 
for the exceeding high rate of bank exchange, Dr. 
House gives no indications of adverse results on the 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 165 


field. Although the missionaries then in Siam were 
from both sections of the divided fatherland, they 
continued to live in cordial relations. During this 
period several reinforcements reached Siam, showing 
that the church at home had not allowed the war to 
curtail their work entirely. These additions were: 
Rey. and Mrs. C. S. George (1862), Mrs. F. F. 
Odell (1863), Rev. and Mrs. P. L. Carden (1866). 
On the other hand, the mission suffered the serious 
loss of Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Mattoon, who were con- 
strained to resign in 1865 on account of Mrs. Mat- 
toon’s continued ill-health. 


SECOND FURLOUGH 


Dr. House left Siam only twice during his twenty- 
nine years of service. After a second period of 
seven-and-a-half years of labour, he sailed for 
America on a furlough in February, 1864. Even then 
the leave was taken not so much on his own account 
as because of Mrs. House’s urgent need of recupera- 
tion. Since they left America, both of Dr. Hottse’s 
parents had died. He made the second journey at his 
own expense. At this time the Civil War in America 
caused the rates of exchange to be very high; to avoid 
this high rate, Dr. House accepted a loan of one thou- 
sand dollars from the king’s private treasury, giving 
only his personal note as security ; and of this sum the 
king authorised Dr. House to pay over to the widow 
of Rev. Jesse Caswell, in America, five hundred dol- 
lars as a further token of appreciation of his 
former tutor. 

The journey home was made by way of the Red 
Sea, Palestine, Egypt, Paris and England. Inclu- 


166 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


sive of the travel, their absence from Siam covered 
two years and ten months. The return trip was made 
by way of the Pacific, leaving San Francisco Sept. 9, 
1866, thus for the first time completing for these two 
the circumnavigation of the globe. On the way out a 
stop was made at the Hawaiian Islands. The travel- 
ers reached Hong Kong Nov. 4, and while waiting for 
a vessel to continue their voyage they went up to 
Canton, where they were most friendly received and 
hospitably entertained by the family of Mr. S. E, 
Burrows, the head of a great commercial and ship- 
ping firm of that place. The Burrows extended to 
Dr. and Mrs. House a free passage in one of their 
own vessels which was sailing direct for Bangkok, 
and there they arrived Dec. 16, 1866. 

Again the returning missionaries received a warm 
welcome on the part of their many native friends. 


“We were warmly welcomed by the missionary circle 
and old friends out of it, native and foreign. Wish you - 
could have seen the congratulatory presents our native 
friends and neighbours brought to shew their gladness 
at our return. 

“The king (being ill at the time) said ‘He was glad 
the old missionaries had returned; he had been very 
sorry that Maw House and Maw Mattoon were gone.’ ” 


A few weeks later, when the king was able, he sent — 
for Dr. House and gave a private audience. 


“On presenting myself at the palace gate when my 
name was announced the king said (so I was told by 
some around him) ‘Dr. H. is not like other foreigners; 
let him come to me at once.’ I was ushered into the 
royal palace ere he had left the grand audience hall— 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 167 


his courtiers and pages waiting upon him. I was re- 
ceived with the cordiality and familiarity of an old 
acquaintance. 

“He asked me how I came? Did Mrs. H. come with 
me; what countries I had seen? Mentioning Egypt, he 
asked me if the canal across the isthmus of Suez would 
succeed. Saying I had now gone around the world, 
returning to Siam by crossing the Pacific Ocean to 
China, he quickly interrupted, ‘Then you lost a day!’ 
and explained to his attendants how it was.... 

“It was time for him now to make his evening visit 
to the vast and lofty structure they were rearing for the 
funeral solemnities of the late second king. Inviting me 
to follow, he went down to his sedan and, preceded by 
soldiers and followed by a crowd of attendants, was 
borne away. Following, I found him seated in a tem- 
porary pavilion erected where he could overlook the 
work. He soon called me to his side—I, alone, of the 
hundreds around him, stood upright. He made inquiries 
concerning Mrs. Caswell, and as he looked again at her 
picture, turning to the princess royal acting as his sword 
bearer, said, ‘ This was the wife of the teacher that I 
revered.’ It was gratifying and interesting to see these 
pleasant memories of persons and events passed away 
eighteen years before, stealing over him. 

“ Having intimated to the king my wish to take up my 
note for one thousand dollars in his treasurer’s hands 
and saying that I should, of course, expect to pay in- 
terest on the balance of five hundred dollars—after de- 
ducting five hundred dollars paid to Mrs. C. on his 
majesty’s behalf—in a few days his majesty’s private 
treasurer paid me a visit, having had the king’s instruc- 
tion to receive from me simply five hundred dollars, and 
to surrender to me the note on which was endorsed these 
words in the king’s own handwriting: 

“*«S. P. P. M. Mongkut, the King, does not wish to 
have interest from the loan to his good friend Doctor 
Samuel R. House—wishing but some useful books, etc., 
according to the pleasure of said doctor, with stating of 


168 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


price of article. This testimony given Ist January, 1867, 
999 


the seventeenth year of our reign. 


THE AWAKENING OF 1866-7 


Doubtless the greatest joy upon return to Siam was 
to find that a great spiritual awakening had taken 
place in the mission school. If the fruits of labour 
seem sparse so far it must be considered that the most 
favourable soil had scarcely time to produce its har- 
vest. ‘The boys and girls who had been under the 
intimate influence of Dr. and Mrs. House in the school 
were just approaching the adolescent age when, in 
1866, a spiritual awakening manifested itself. News 
of this work of grace had reached Dr. House at Hong 
Kong, and upon arrival at Bangkok he rejoiced to 
learn that the facts more than confirmed the report. 


“ Found all well and the very best of good news await- 
ing us, confirming the hopes I have felt all along that a 
better day was about to dawn on us in Siam. ‘Two of 
our oldest and most promising pupils (Hee, the writer of 
that interesting letter to me, published in the Foreign 
Missionary last year, being one of them), and a native 
teacher in our employ (a man of some education) were 


baptised a few weeks ago as converts from heathenism; > 


and another native teacher, Naah (Esther’s husband), 
with others of the pupils in the mission school are 
desirous of Christian baptism. These new converts 
with the older church members sustain semi-weekly 
prayer-meetings among themselves with warm interest.” 


The convert named in this letter was Tien Hee, 
who, a few years later, went to America to seek a 
higher education. Graduating in medicine at the New 
York University in 1871, he returned to Siam, where 


eee 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 169 


he became the first native physician practising the 
Western system of medicine. He became eminently 
successful in his practise, amassed considerable 
wealth, received the title of Phra Montri and lately 
has been elevated to a higher rank of nobility, as Phya 
Sarasin. In grateful recognition of what Christianity 
has done for him he has made generous contributions 
toward the work of the mission. 

Two months later Dr. House reported further 
confessions : 


“Tt was my privilege and joy last Sabbath to receive 
to our little mission church in the ordinance of baptism 
three Christian converts, all connected or once connected 
with our mission boarding school; and one of these my 
dear old pupil Naah (Esther’s husband), the boy es- 
pecially given me by his Chinese father on his dying 
bed. The others were Dik and Ting. ... You do not 
know how many fold I felt repaid by the privilege I 
enjoyed that Sabbath.” 


In August of that year (1867) he writes further: 


“We are permitted to report the admission by bap- 
tism to our native church at this station at our last com- 
munion of five new members. Two of them girls that 
have been long under instruction in the missionary fami- 
lies; two others, elder pupils in the mission school for 
boys; and the fifth, one more advanced in years. 

“Among the four young persons who kneeled one 
after another to receive the solemn ordinance which 
made them church members was our dear Ooey, who 
has long in her heart been persuaded of the truth of our 
religion and the importance of attendance to it, and who 
a few weeks before came out bright and clear and de- 
cided, in her determination to serve the Saviour. Again 
it fell to my lot to administer the ordinance; and a privi- 


170 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


lege unspeakable it was to stand up and in the name of 
the Lord to apply the seal of the covenant to the dusky 
brow of that child of many prayers, and to others I had 
helped teach the way to heaven. 

“That Sabbath evening Ooey told me with beaming 
eyes that her heart was full of happiness. And yet only 
the day before the poor child had been told by her 
heathen father—who was angry with her for forsaking 
the old religion—that she ‘must never call him father, 
nor her mother, mother again.’ 

“The fifth is Ah Keo, for over twenty years a servant 
in the different mission families. I recollect talking and 
praying with him the first year I was in Siam. But his 
besetting sin, intemperance, made all exhortation lost on 
him till this spring—a miracle of grace has been 
wrought.” 


This religious interest increased with the days, so 
that the semi-weekly meeting for prayer gave way to 
a daily meeting, in which the young Christians ex- 
horted their fellow students and friends to believe on 
Christ, and their hearts were poured out in interces- 
sion for the conversion of their families and of Siam. 
Then, in September, Dr. House records another con- 
fession from among the student group: 


“Delia made our hearts very glad the other day by 


coming to us and saying her mind was made up to be- 
come a Christian, and wished to be baptised. Her 
mother and brother would be very angry with her, but 
she felt she must take up her cross. She is a girl of a 
great deal of decision and energy of character.” 


The fall meeting of the Presbytery of Siam for 
1867 was marked by items of unusual interest. Dr. 
House was installed pastor of the church, as a suc- 
cessor to Mr. Mattoon. The formal call for his pas- 





DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 171 


toral services (signed by thirteen members), the 
charge to the pastor and people, the prayers and the 
sermon were all in the Siamese language—an index 
of the development of self-government in the native 
church. At the same meeting A. Klai, of Petchaburi, 
was licensed as a native local preacher, apparently the 
first to be fitted for that rank. Dr. House jocularly 
refers to him as a “ graduate of the McFarland Theo- 
logical Seminary of Petchaburi,” as he had been under 
the instruction of Mr. McFarland. At the commun- 
ion in the Bangkok church this same autumn occurred 
the ordination of the first native elder of the local 
church, the congregation having elected the young 
man Naah already mentioned. 


THE NOTABLE TRIP TO LAO 


One notable trip of Dr. House remains to be nar- 
rated, a journey into the land of the Lao—notable 
because of the accident which nearly closed the career 
of the doctor. The trip occurred in 1868. The pre- 
vious year was signalised in the annals of missions in 
Siam by the establishment of a station at Chiengmai 
among the Lao people in what is now known as North 
Siam. It is curious to note that while Dr. House him- 
self had been among the first to become interested in 
these people as he came into contact with the Lao 
boatmen at Bangkok and although he once seriously 
contemplated leaving the Mattoons alone at Bangkok 
while he should carry the Gospel into the unexplored 
northland, yet when the proposition was being dis- 
cussed by the mission to open a station there the 
doctor enters a record of his judgment that the time 
is premature. 


172 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


However, additions to the corps of workers having 
made it possible to establish another station, the mis- 
sion decided to send Messrs. McGilvary and Wilson, 
who had made an exploratory trip the previous sea- 
son, to open work among the Lao tribes. In January 
of 1867 the McGilvary family set out in small boats, 
making the journey all the way up the Meinam. In the 
next December the Wilsons followed along the same 
route. It was a three-months’ journey up Siam’s great 
river, whose name means “ mother of waters.” Above 
Raheng the stream forces its way through a narrow 
gap in the mountain chain, forming a long series of 
perilous rapids and affording scenery which is de- 
scribed by voyagers as of surpassing beauty. 

Dr. House wrote concerning the reason for his 
own trip: 


“And here I must let you into a little secret. Mrs. 
Wilson, it seems, will require the attendance of a physi- 
cian about the first of March, and so also will Mrs. 
McGilvary. So much the worse for both of them, you 
will say—seeing they are five hundred miles from med- 
ical aid. Must they, then, be abandoned to their fate? 


You must not, then, dear brother, be much surprised to | 


learn that this double call of Providence has proved too 
strong for me. Much as I dislike the practise of my 
profession, much as I dread the long, tedious journey, 
much as I desire just now to stay with my interesting 
and most dearly loved flock [the church over which the 
doctor had just been made pastor] I have felt it would 
be wrong for me to decline the invitation I have re- 
ceived to visit Chiengmai at the critical time. 

“But I cannot afford to waste three months on the 
journey there, when by boat to Raheng in twenty-three 
days Chiengmai from there can be reached by elephant 
in eight to ten days more.” 


i 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 173 


Accordingly, the doctor determined to take the 
quicker route, and by February 13, he had reached 
Raheng. There he was delayed five days waiting for 
elephants to be provided for him. The company then 
set out over the mountains, expecting to reach their 
destination nearly on schedule time. Then came the 
accident, the story of which is most vividly set forth 
in the letter written by Dr. House himself on that 
same day. 


“Ban Hong ‘North Laos, 
“Monday, March 2, 1868. 
“Rev. Mr. AND Mrs, McGi.vary. 
“Dear Brother and Sister: 

“So near and yet unable to get farther. Is it not a 
strange Providence? When I started this morning 
strong and well, refreshed by a Sabbath’s day rest at the 
little hamlet of Wong Luang I was rejoicing in the 
thought that I was almost at the end of this tedious and 
almost endless journey through the sultry wilderness 
and would soon receive the welcome which such friends 
as you will give, when about eight or nine a. mM. my ele- 
phant by whose side I was walking, suddenly and with- 
out provocation turned upon me and pushed me over 
with his trunk and, when lying on the ground, thrust one 
of those huge tusks at me and into my poor body—how 
deep I know not, but ripping up my abdomen two and 
one-half inches just below the umbillicus. It was a 
strange sensation I assure you. I was expecting an- 
other thrust which I could not escape, for I was jammed 
in by the side of a tree. By this time, however, his 
driver had got his head turned into the road again. 

“And there I was in the far woods with very prob- 
ably a fatal wound and none but servants and Laos ele- 
phant drivers. As my men came up poor Beo, who is 
most faithful and much attached, burst into tears. And 
now thoughts of Harriette and home rushed over me. 
But God my Saviour, God to whom only yesterday I had 


174 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


renewed my consecration of myself as His servant in a 
sweet retired spot on the beautiful mountain stream 
where we were camped, has permitted—nay ordered— 
this unlooked-for calamity; and in God I trust, blessed 
be His Name for sustaining me through the hours of 
this sad day. 

“Such wound, of course, must be sewed up, and at 
once, and I must do it, for I could trust none of those 
with me, new men all but good Beo. It was curious 
business, this sewing up one’s own abdomen; but it must 
be done, and it was done—four stitches. By this time 
my men had contrived a very comfortable litter with an 
awning from the bamboos growing near at hand. Of 
course climbing upon an elephant and enduring the 
merciless rocking motion was out of the question. So 
borne by four men on the litter we slowly journeyed on 
through the dry, parched woods, over mountains and 
across the dry water brooks from eleven or twelve to 
five Pp. M., when we reached this village on the Maa Li 
River, on the route from Muang Tern and Muang Li to 
Lampoon. And I am writing this by candlelight in the 
Sala Klang of the place lying on my back. It is weari- 
some work to write and I must stop soon. The people 
here seem kind. I have engaged a messenger to take 
this announcement of my misfortune to Chiengmai. 

“And now, my dear brother and dear sister (and if 
Brother Wilson and his dear wife have arrived, I in- . 
clude them also), I need not say to you how serious is 
the injury I have received. The first thought was that 
the omentum or caul had protruded; it may have been 
lacerated fat under the skin. It was replaced, of course. 
But whether the cavity of the peritoneum was pierced 
or not, (and my symptoms would have been more severe 
if it had been, I think), still there must have been much 
contusion of the bowels, and of course great danger of 
peritonitis, the gravest of all diseases. I must lie per- 
fectly still for days and days to have a chance of getting 
well. Another day of such jolting as today would be 
fatal. My only hope is in absolute rest. My bowels are 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 175 


very sore, of course; but God will not forsake His child 
and I will try to bear all that is appointed me. I write 
to notify you that you, too, may trust your dear Sophia, 
and brother W. his dear Kate, in the same ever gracious 
hands. His angel has laid his hands upon me and 
stopped me here. 

“T write also to say that neither of you must think of 
coming over (from Chiengmai it is three days on ele- 
phant) to visit me. You can do me no manner of good 
and your wives absolutely require you both at home just 
now. It would be positively wrong for you to leave 
them. I have good, kind servants, medicines, books, and 
best of all my Saviour’s presence, and I am resigned to 
His will. But, Oh, poor Harriette—pray for her. We 
will pray for each other, and God bless you and yours 
till we meet. 

“ Affectionately, 
“S. R. House. 


ME vow At 1. get well, I—or if not, my four men—will 
proceed to Chiengmai and deliver to you there six hun- 
dred ticals I am bringing to your mission.” 


This letter records a story of nerve and fortitude 
seldom equalled in the annals of travel and explora- 
tion. One must pause after reading it to take in the 
whole situation. The note itself was written at the 
close of the day of shock and pain and suffering. It 
was written while the sufferer was lying flat on his 
back, scarcely able to move without agitating the 
wound; and written then lest a night’s delay might 
find him unable to write. But as you read the letter 
you are conscious that he writes not because he is 
thinking of his own need, but because he knows that 
his friends will be greatly alarmed by his failure to 
appear. The trip itself had been undertaken in a 
spirit of self-abnegation solely for the welfare of his 


176 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


fellow missionaries. And the necessity of the trip 
casts a vivid light upon the deprivations and hardships 
of those pioneer missionaries. ‘There are those who 
will exclaim, “ Fools! why did they go so far from 
contact with civilisation and under such circumstances, 
—five hundred miles from the nearest physician!” 
Yes, fools! but fools for the sake of the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ, “of whom the world was not worthy.” 
Further details of this marvellous adventure are 
given in a letter written two weeks later from the 
same place, the original of which is still preserved. 


“TI wonder if any surgeon was ever before called 
upon to sew up his own abdomen! Somehow nerve was 
given me to put in the four stitches without shrinking, 
though it was a work of no little difficulty, as I had to 
be guided by the reflection in a looking-glass—the wound 
not being in direct line of vision—as I lay on my back 
too weak to sit up. All the water I had was in a small | 
porous drinking vessel—not over a pint, and no other 
supply for miles. ... ; 

“That evening I arranged for a messenger to carry 
the tidings of my injury to the mission at Chiengmai. 
On the evening of the third day they returned, and with 
them a servant of Mr. McGilvary came along, and also 
our faithful Christian Siamese brother, Nai Chune, who 
had gone up in charge of Mr. Wilson’s household goods 
to Chiengmai. . . . Had my letter reached Chiengmai a 
few hours later it would have found Nai Chune gone, - 
for his passage was taken and his things aboard the 
boat to start that day for Bangkok... . 

“T am lost in wonder when I think of the Providence 
by which I escaped seemingly inevitable death. Who 
ever heard of one being impaled on an elephant’s tusk 
and yet living to tell the tale. God’s merciful Provi- 
dence ordered that when I was unexpectedly felled to 
the ground I was thrown—not flat on my back, in which 


DAWN, THEN THE DAYLIGHT 177 


case I had been pierced through and through; but on my 
right side, hence his tusk which was aimed at the middle 
line of my body glanced and so did not enter deep 
enough to inflict a mortal wound. Had it pierced’ but 
the thickness of this paper deeper than it did, peritoneal 
inflammation would have ensued and speedy death. ... 

(Later.) “The afternoon of the day I wrote the 
foregoing letter a loaded elephant came to the sala 
where I am lying, and the one riding it began to hand 
down various baskets and bundles as if they had reached 
their destination. It proved to have been sent by my 
good brethren of Chiengmai, who had forwarded sup- 
plies of everything that could be thought of to make a 
sick man comfortable... . 

“ With wise forethought they had arranged that a boat 
should be awaiting me at the nearest landing place on 
the river to take me to Chiengmai. I was too weak then 
and the wound was not in a state to allow of my leaving 
the sala; but the next Monday (just two weeks from the 
date of the injury) I ventured to try the litter again. 
So with a new set of elephants for my luggage and 
bearers for myself hired in the village, that afternoon 
at 3 o'clock we started, but found no camping place till 
II P. M.—a weary journey! But all forgotten next 
morning when my eyes rested again on the Meinam 
River and I was transferred to the boat. Two days of 
vigourous poling up the river brought me to my friends’ 
landing about five p. mM. Wednesday, March 18,” 


By Nai Chune the doctor was able to send to his 
wife the news of the misfortune, though it was two 
months after the accident before she received the mes- 
sage. Trusty servants were then sent up to meet him 
at Raheng, where his boats were awaiting his return. 
The complete healing of the wound and recuperation 
of strength required more time than he had antici- 
pated so that he was compelled to remain at Chieng- 


178 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


mai six weeks. During this enforced delay he had the 
privilege of assisting in organising the first church at 
Chiengmai, a little gratification to his old and ardent 
desire for the evangelisation of the Lao. The return 
was made all the way by water. From Chiengmai to 
Raheng the voyage required eighteen days, and thence 
his own boats carried him the remainder of the way 
to Bangkok in twelve days. 

It is probable that Dr. House accomplished more 
touring in Siam than any other missionary. During 
the first ten years, within which most of the exploring 
was done, he was more free than Mr. Mattoon to be 
absent for long periods and distant journeys. While 
the other missions were restricting their work Dr. 
House had visions of enlarging the range of Presby- 
terian activities. All the fields of present mission sta- 
tions in central Siam had been explored by Dr. House 
and seed sown long before permanent work was un- 
dertaken. Love of pioneering and zeal for the Gospel — 
united to impel him to search out the land with a. 
view to ultimate conquest for Christ. 


Xx 


NEW KING, NEW CUSTOMS, NEW 
FAVOURS 


the American missionaries that through their in- 

struction in modern science the most enlightened 
monarch of the Orient should have come to his death 
as a result of his zeal in behalf of astronomy. AlI- 
though since he had ascended the throne King Mong- 
kut had not been able to devote time to pursuit of the 
sciences as he had done while a priest in the watt, yet 
he maintained a real interest. His requests to Dr. 
House for translations from foreign journals included 
items of scientific interest. His patronage of the mis- 
sion school in favour of the sons of nobles was not 
merely to have them taught English, but that through 
that language they might obtain instruction in the 
sciences. 

When circumstances brought it within his power to 
lend assistance to the scientific world he seized the 
opportunity with a royal will. Astronomers had pre- 
dicted a total eclipse of the sun for the year 1868, and 
indicated that the southern peninsula of Siam would 
be the sole place on the globe where the eclipse would 
appear in totality. In his great enthusiasm, desiring 
to be a patron of science, the king determined to lead 
an expedition to witness the phenomena. Dr. House 
describes the preparations in a letter (Aug., 1868) : 


179 


T is a noteworthy testimony to the influence of 


180 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“The gulf of Siam lay in the greatest duration of the 
solar eclipse since the sun began to shine, as some say; 
attracting to these realms astronomers from Western 
Europe. Great preparations were made to receive them 
with all honor and to join them in witnessing the solar 
phenomena, on the part of our science-loving king and 
his government. Large levies of men were made to put 
up at the spot fixed by the French astronomical expedi- 
tion suitable buildings for all who were present. No 
expense was spared in the way of entertaining the nu- 
merous guests. It is said that two thousand catties of 
silver ($96,000.) were expended upon the affair by our 
public spirited king. A free ticket on a beautiful ship 
of war, and entertainment while there, to all us foreign 
residents. But as Mr. McDonald (now acting consul) 
desires to go and both could not well be absent so long 
from the station, I did not go down; and then, too, we 
were sure of a very respectable eclipse here in Bangkok, 
which I wished to improve for the benefit of the pupils 
in our school and our native friends. ... Here we saw 
stars distinctly in the day time during the greatest 
obscuration.” 


The site chosen by the astronomers was in the 
jungle, in which the king caused a clearing to be made 
and temporary huts to be constructed. During the 
brief sojourn in this unhealthy spot, the king con- 
tracted a fever. The disease proved fatal, death occur- 
ring shortly after the king returned to the royal palace. 


The death of the king was a sore loss to the world. 


Dr. House wrote: 


“The missionaries lost, some of them a kind personal 
friend and a ‘ well-wisher’ as he used to sign himself, 
and all a friendly-disposed liberal minded sovereign, who 
put no obstacle in the way of their evangelising his 
people.” | 


i i 


NEW KING 181 


Western nations lost a royal friend who had opened 
the gates of his kingdom for intercourse. But Siam 
herself, while mourning the death of an enlightened 
sovereign, had gained so much through the seventeen 
years of his felicitous reign that his death could not 
stop her progress in the paths he had opened for her. 
The light which had found its way into the jungle of 
human notions through the clearing Mongkut had 
made was never again to pass into eclipse. 


KING CHULALONGKORN 


With the death of King Mongkut the personal rela- 
tions of the pioneer missionaries with the reigning 
monarch were terminated. Concerning the successor, 
Chulalongkorn, Dr. House wrote: 
ae 

“T have not seen much of the young prince in child- 
hood; he had been under the tutorship of the English 
governess Mrs. Leonowens and, later, of Mr. Chandler 
(formerly a lay Baptist missionary). ... He had 
grown to maturity during the nearly three years of my 
absence in America.” 


As second or vice-king there had been chosen 
Prince George Washington, with whom Dr. House 
was better acquainted. 

The missionaries were eager to learn whether the 
new government was to be as progressive as the old, 
and especially to know the attitude to be assumed 
towards their work. Signs that progression was to 
be the order of the reign were not long wanting. 
Custom hitherto required that the coronation should 
be in the presence of the princes only. At the coro- 
nation of Chulalongkorn an innovation was intro- 


182 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


duced by invitations to the official representatives of 
other nations resident in Bangkok to attend. Shortly 
after the coronation the missionaries arranged, 
through the United States consul, to pay their re- 
spects to the new king. They were graciously re- 
ceived, and although the young king was suffering 
from effects of a fever contracted on the ill-fated 
astronomical expedition, he gave them an audience 
and conversed with them a few minutes. When the 
consul was arranging for his official visit of congratu- 
lations upon the vice-king, that personage requested as 
a personal favour that the consul be accompanied by 
Dr. House. The king was but fifteen years of age 
when he came to the throne, and during his minority 
the government was under the regency of Somdetch 
Chao Phya Boromaha Sri Suriwongse, an able and 
upright statesman. | 

With rapid succession came decrees changing age- 
long customs and bringing Siamese social and civil 


institutions into line with Western civilisation. ‘The - 


most radical and noteworthy of these changes were: 
the abolition of the practice of prostration by which 
everyone, of whatsoever rank, had been obliged to 
prostrate himself on the ground, face downwards, in 
the presence of any who had a superior rank in the 
social scale; the introduction at court and in the army 


of a modified European dress to cover the near- © 


nudity which formerly prevailed; the prohibition of 
enslavement for debt, a pernicious custom by which 


parents could sell their children, husbands their wives, © 


and anyone himself into servitude to discharge a ruin- 
ous debt, resulting in a state of peonage from witich 
the hopeless victim could scarce escape; reformation 


ee 


NEW KING 183 


of unjust political practises; and the initiation of a 
state system of schools, telegraphs and posts. 

Concerning two of these reforms interesting side- 
lights have been cast by writers. Mrs. Leonowens, 
by whom the prince had been tutored in English, re- 
lates that when he heard of the death of Abraham 
Lincoln he declared that “if he ever lived to reign 
over Siam he would reign over a free and not an 
enslaved nation, and that he would restore the ancient 
constitutional government and make Siam a kingdom 
of the free.” Mr. J. G. D. Campbell, in his volume 
Siam in the Twentieth Century, sketches the court- 
scene when the ancient custom of prostration was 
abolished : 


“Tn 1874,” he writes, “ King Chulalongkorn assembled 
his ministers and nobles and, having ascended the throne, 
promulgated a decree emancipating them and all sub- 
jects from the degrading custom of crawling on their 
knees in the presence of a superior; after which, at his 
command the whole assembly arose from their prostrate 
position on their hands and knees and stood erect for 
the first time in the presence of their sovereign.” 


Though his personal relation with the occupant of 
the throne was terminated, Dr. House found that the 
new government included many of his old-time 
friends from the days of his lectures on science. 
Among these were the regent himself, the minister of 
foreign affairs, the master of the new mint and the 
commander-in-chief of the army. A new office also 
had been established, and the doctor found his friend 
Godata, formerly a priest in Chao Fah Yai’s watt, 
appointed as court preacher with the duty of preach- 


184 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ing on the Christian Sabbath a moral lecture to the 
soldiers and cadets, by the king’s orders. 


NEW FAVOURS 


The mission workers hoped that a change in sove- 
reigns would mean no reaction; they scarcely ex- 
pected more. But while King Mongkut had “ put no 
obstacle in the way,’ King Chulalongkorn soon re- 
moved the remaining obstacles by making effective 
the treaty provisions even in the dependency of Lao. 
For it was the rapid development of the work in that 
new station that precipitated a condition in which the 
good offices of the new government alone saved the 
day. Within two years of the beginning of work at 
Chiengmai the first convert made a confession of 
faith, Nan Inta; and in seven months more six others 
had received baptism. Then suddenly the virulence 
of the king of Lao was manifested by the martyrdom 
of two of these converts, put to death on his orders. 

As the Lao state was subject to the king of Siam, 
and as the government had given permission for the 
missionaries to work in that dependency, appeal was 
taken promptly to the regent for protection of the 


Lao missionaries whose lives were in danger. The 


regent sent a commissioner with all dispatch to 
Chiengmai with stringent orders to the Lao ruler that 
the missionaries must receive the full protection guar- 
anteed by the treaty between Siam and the United 
States. Enraged by this invocation of a higher 
authority, the Lao king declared that while the mis- 
sionaries might remain as the Siamese government 
had ordered, yet they must not teach religion or make 
Christians ; and openly vowed his purpose to kill any 


es a en 


| 





NEW KING 185 


of his people who should become converts to the new 
religion. The situation had apparently become im- 
possible ; and to gain time while deciding what course 
was best under the circumstances, the work was sus- 
pended, and the workers had virtually decided to leave 
in the spring. About that time, however, the tyrant 
with a large suite left for Bangkok to attend the cre- 
mation ceremonies of his late suzerain, While there 
he fell sick, and before he could reach his Chiengmai 
capital he died. Upon his death the supreme power 
within the province passed to the hands of one kindly 
disposed to the missionaries. 

In the same year as the death of the Lao king, 
1870, a royal proclamation was issued which appeared 
in part in the Bangkok Calendar for the next year. 
This proclamation was a decree of religious liberty. 
Apparently, although not of a certainty, it had some 
connection with the recent affair among the Lao. A 
paragraph from this proclamation shows the broad- 
mindedness of the government at that period: 


“In regard to the concern of seeking and holding a 
religion that shall be a refuge to yourself in this life, it 
is a good concern and exceedingly appropriate and suit- 
able that you all—every individual of you—should in- 
vestigate and judge for himself according to his own 
wisdom. And when you see any religion whatever, or 
any company of religionists whatever, likely to be of ad- 
vantage to yourself, a refuge in accord with your own 
wisdom, hold to that religion with all your heart. Hold it 
not with a shallow mind, with mere guess work or merely 
because of its general popularity or from mere tradi- 
tional saying. that it is the custom held from time im- 
memorial. And do not hold a religion that you have not 
good evidence is true and then frighten men’s fears and 


186 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


flatter their hopes thereby. Do not be frightened and 
astonished at diverse fictitious events and hold to and 
follow them. When you shall have obtained a refuge, a 
religious faith that is good and beautiful and suitable, 
hold to it with great joy and follow its teachings, and it 
will be a cause of prosperity to each one of you.... 
It is our will that our subjects of whatever race, nation 
or creed live freely and happily in the kingdom, no man 
despising or molesting another on account of religious 
difference, or any other difference of opinion, custom 
or manners.” 


Oddly enough, Dr. House, who seemed always to 
make mention of the innovations of the progressive 
government under the new king, makes no reference 
to this proclamation in his letters, nor does he men- 
tion it in his chapter on the history of missions in 
Siam and Laos. In this last named work, however, 
he states that on Sept. 29, 1878, the king of Siam is- 
sued “a proclamation establishing religious toleration 
in Laos and by implication throughout all his 
dominions.” 

Early in 1871 an incident occurred which was 
fraught with great consequence for native Christians, 
and one in which Dr. House’s friendly intimacy with 
the high officials enabled him to render a service of 
far-reaching consequence to the young native church. 
One of the girls of the school, Ooey, shortly after she 
had made a confession of faith, was called as a wit- 
ness in court upon a suit in behalf of another member 
of the church. It was then the custom to allow the 
Chinese to take oath according to their religion; but 
there was no provision in the law for the Christian 
oath. When this young girl was asked to take the 
native oath, she told the court boldly that she was a 





NEW KING 187 


Christian and that she could not take an oath based 
on the native religion; and she demanded to be sworn 
upon her Christian faith. The court tried to induce 
her to accede to custom, assuring her that it was but 
a harmless formula. But she steadily refused, al- 
though she was an important witness, the lack of 
whose testimony was greatly to the disadvantage of a 
fellow-Christian. In consequence the case was sus- 
pended, in hopes that she would change her attitude. 

The matter was at once brought to the attention of 
Dr. House, who recognised that the situation involved 
elements which were of serious consequence to the 
religious rights of native Christians. If compelled to 
take oath, it would infringe upon their conscience. 
If not permitted to substitute the Christian oath, they 
would have to forfeit their standing in the court in 
all cases. The doctor at once sought an interview 
with the minister of foreign affairs, his old friend and 
former Lieutenant Governor of Petchaburi, and also 
with the regent, an old-time friend. After laying 
before them the nature of the case, an order was 
issued directing that a witness be sworn by the 
faith to which he claimed allegiance. This action, 
so far as appears, was the first step in the legal 
recognition of the Christian faith on the part of the 
government. 


PROGRESS 


During the last decade of Dr. House’s services 
there were many recruits to the force of workers. 
But these additions were not a net gain, for in the 
meantime there were numerous withdrawals on ac- 
count of health. In 1869 came Revs. J. W. Van 


188 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Dyke and John Carrington with their wives. Two 
years later were added Rev. and Mrs. R. Arthur, 
Rev. J. N. Culbertson and Miss E. S. Dickey. Miss 
Arabella Anderson came in 1872 to assist in the new 
boarding school for girls. The year 1874 saw the 
arrival of an unusual number of unmarried women 
missionaries. They were Misses S. M. Coffman, M. 
L. Cort and E. D. Grimshaw. Then, in 1875, Rev. 
and Mrs. Eugene P. Dunlop reached Bangkok and 
began a very long period of valuable service. 

Increase of workers meant not diminution but 
rather increase of work. This is typified in the case 
of Dr. House himself, who jocularly wrote to his 
brother that “ Satan will not likely find mischief for 
my hands to do,” and then recounts the duties that 
devolve upon him. The varied activities that he men- 
tions not only show the versatility required of a mis- 
sionary but indicate the manifold duties that each 
missionary has to perform. He writes: 


“T have recently become a theological professor, four 
evenings of the week gathering around me in my study 
the more advanced and promising of the native church 


members . . . and try to pilot them through the leading 


principles of a system of divinity.” 


One of these men, Ooan Si Tieng, was ordained in 
1872. He had been the first Chinese convert in the 
mission and now became the first to receive this full 


authority from the Presbytery. As pastor of the native — 


church Dr. House had a full measure of sorrows as 


well as joys, for there is a tide in spiritual affairs that — 


has its ebb as well as its flow, and the years of spir- 


a a er oe ee oe . 


NEW KING 189 


itual awaking were followed by periods of depression. 
Thus at the beginning of 1869 he writes: 


“Our spiritual prospects at the opening of the year 
are not as bright as last new year—one or two sad and 
unexpected fallings away from the faith have greatly 
tried and pained our hearts.” 


But this reaction was transient, for two years later, 
in telling of the week of prayer in January, he writes: 


“ Our native Christians are quite interested, sustaining 
the meetings nobly. Indeed I have thrown the meetings 
upon them altogether and they take turns in leading 
them. You do not know what comfort it is to have in 
my little flock enough able and willing to carry on these 
meetings. ... It would do you good to witness the 
spirit of faithfulness on their part to the souls of their 
impenitent friends and neighbours,” 


In addition to his duties as pastor of the mission 
church, Dr. House was appointed superintendent of 
the mission press in 18/0, and for that year also was 
elected secretary of the mission in charge of the 
records and correspondence. At the same time he 
was offered a royal appointment : 


“Projects are now on foot in both kings’ palaces for 
schools for the instruction of the young nobility of Siam 
in English and the sciences. I have been earnestly solic- 
ited by the Second King George to aid in establishing 
the one he is planning. Happy would I be to lend a 
helping hand if other duties would allow.” 


After two years the doctor was relieved of the charge 
of the Press and appointed again to the more con- 


190 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


genial task of supervising the mission school, a 
position which he continued to fill until his final with- 
drawal from the field. 

In the midst of these incidents the actual growth of 
the Mission must not be overlooked. It has to be 
recorded that in spite of arduous and faithful labours 
of the increasing corps of workers and in the face of 
all the encouraging marks of advance in Western 
civilisation, Siam responded very slowly to the spirit- 
ual appeal of the Gospel. While she gladly recog- 
nised and sought after the material benefits of 
Christianity she continued to manifest her character- 
istic indifference to its more vital message. Mr. 
McDonald, in his book on Siam, Its Government, 
Manners and Customs, says that when he arrived in 
Siam in 1861 there was but one native convert in con- 
nection with the mission, whereas ten years later there 
was a church in Bangkok with only twenty members 
and another in Petchaburi with a like number. He 
then adds: 


“Tt is just to state that there is scarcely any other 
field in which modern missions have been established | 
where the introduction of the gospel has met with so 
little opposition as in Siam proper. ... It is equally 
just to say that there is scarcely any other field which 
has been so barren of results. Pure Buddhism seems to 
yield more slowly to the power of the gospel than any 
other false system.” 


The reason for this unyielding nature of Buddhism 
seems to lie in its ethical theories which are the result 
of its philosophy of life. In some measure, too, this 
indifference of Buddhism to a spiritual interpretation 





NEW KING 191 


of life accounts for its non-resistance towards the 
preaching of an antagonistic religion. The primary 
fallacies of Buddhism from the Christian point of 
view are: 


“t, No Creator and no Creating: Things just hap- 
pened. This conception leads to indifference to nature 
and to a belief that the body is vile, to be despised and 
disregarded. 

“2. No idea of a Spiritual Personality, whether hu- 
man or divine. Emphasis is placed on mind and intellect 
to the exclusion of will and feeling. Hence Buddhism 
is a philosophy rather than a religion, a theory of exist- 
ence rather than a motive force. 

“3. No true sense of relationship of man to man or 
of man to God, in the absence of spiritual personality. 
Everything is ego-centric, each for himself. Hence in- 
complete ideas of love, faith, sin, holiness, suffering; in 
the absence of hope fear dominates life. 

“4, The greatest fundamental error is the assertion 
of the Karma law as the sole principle that explains all 
(the law of ethical causation, by which the merit or de- 
merit of every act in this life effects the future life). 
This leads to a denial of personality and to fatalism, 
formality, trust in the individual’s merit, denial of for- 
giveness and selfsatisfaction.” 


But if the work at that stage had few numerical 
results to display, yet a keen discernment would show 
that other larger results were being accomplished. 
Mr. George B. Bacon, in his volume on Siam, shows a 
true appreciation of what missions had accomplished 
up to that time: 


“ At first sight their efforts, if measured by count of 
converts, might seem to have resulted in failure... . 
But really the success of these efforts has been extraor- 


192 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


dinary, although the history of them exhibits an order of 
results almost without precedent. Ordinarily the reli- 
gious enlightenment of a people comes first and the 
civilization follows as a thing of course. But here the 
Christianisation of the nation has scarcely begun, but 
its civilisation has made much more than a beginning. 
For it is to the labours of the Christian missionaries in 
Siam that the remarkable advancement of the kings and 
nobles, and even of the common people in general is 
owing. ... 

“When Sir John Bowring came in 1855 to negotiate 
his treaty ... he found the fruit was ripe before he 
plucked it. And it was by the patient and persistent la- 
bours of the missionaries for twenty years that the re- 
sults which he achieved were made not only possible 
but easy.” 


But there is evidence of even more subtle effect of 
the gospel. No one who reads of the notable changes 
in the social customs and political institutions intro- 
duced by the young King Chulalongkorn can resist the 
conclusion that it was the religious support of these 
ancient practises that had given way under the disin- 
tegrating light of the Christian Gospel. Even that 
earlier attempt of Chao Fah Yai to modernise the 
religious teachings among his followers shows that the 
religious philosophy of Buddhism could not stand 
before the truth of Jesus. 


LITERARY WORK 


In the literary field Dr. House was receptive rather 
than creative. He was a lover of books but not of 
writing : 


“ How irksome and difficult the labour of composition 
has been to me,” he says, “I’d rather be a ditch digger 


NEW KING 193 


and shovel mud. ‘The getting of a certain amount of 
writing done by a given time is out of the question in 
my case.” 


He was appointed the first “librarian” of the Mis- 
sion back in the early days when the library consisted 
of two shelves of books and some unbound magazines, 
besides “some Malay, Tamul, Bengali, Portuguese 
and Indo-Portuguese books for a long time handed 
down in the mission.” His reluctance at the pen 
partly accounts for the sparsity of matter published 
under his name in the missionary magazines. But the 
refusal on his part to appear in print in this fashion 
was due perhaps more to his fear that journals or 
newspapers containing articles on missions would find 
their way into the hands of the Siamese government, 
which might be displeased with any frank narrative 
of observations. For this reason he frequently ad- 
monished the recipients of his letters that they should 
not take advantage of his absence to publish his 
comments. 

When it came to the needs of the mission, however, 
he lent his hand and brain to supply the requirements. 
The following tracts are ascribed to him: 

Scripture Facts, 1848. 

Wati’s Catechism, bound with The Speller, 1853. 

Child’s Catechism uth Commandments and Lord’s 
Prayer, 1854. | 

Questions in Gospel History, 1864. 

Stand by the Truth, 1869. 

These last two in conjunction with Mrs. House. 

After return to America he wrote a pamphlet, Notes 
on Obstetric Practises in Siam, (Putnam, 1897). In 


194 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


the volume, Siam and Laos (Presbyterian Board, 
1884), several chapters were contributed by Dr. 
House, including the very comprehensive and accurate 
chapter on History of Misstons in Siam; but so im- 
personally did he write the record that it would be 
almost impossible for the reader to detect that a good 
part of the story had been created in action as well as 
recounted by the writer. 

The school for boys which Dr. House fostered 
almost continuously from its beginning was merged 
into the Boys’ Christian High School in 1889. This 
institution in turn developed in scope until it was 
enlarged into the “ Bangkok Christian College,” which 
was organised in 1915, 


XI 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 


commission of the Board. Her status was simi- 

lar to that of the pastor’s wife at home. It is 
not infrequent that the work of the wife is just as 
vital to the development of the church as that of her 
husband, but she receives no recognition in the of- 
ficial records of the church. Her honour is em- 
blazoned where the eye cannot see it—in the hearts 
of the people. The wife of the pioneer missionary 
went out, not at the call of the Church, but at the call 
of the husband, with no promise of remuneration 
aside from the fabulous bridal endowment which the 
groom made at marriage “ with all his worldly goods ” 
and with no official rank to assure the preservation of 
her name on the roll of honour. 

So it happens that the scanty reports from the 
early Siam mission seldom mentioned the name 
of Mrs. House. Yet one cannot read the letters 
of her husband without perceiving that she sup- 
plemented his educational work in a manner and 
to a degree that is worthy of special recognition. 
But apart from that, she succeeded finally in so 
organising and establishing female education in 
Siam that she has come to be regarded as the 
founder of permanent educational work for women 
in that country. 


| i former years a missionary’s wife was not under 


195 


196 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


HER FAMILY AND EDUCATION 

Harriet Pettit House was born in Waterford, New 
York, Dec. 23, 1820. Her ancestry was Scotch and 
English. On the mother’s side the line goes back to 
William Mitchell and his wife, Agnes Buchanan, who 
emigrated from Glasgow to New England in 1755. 
The male line in America began with the Englishman 
Abraham Waterhouse, who came to New England, 
1729, and “who sleeps with the pilgrim settlers at 
Saybrook, Conn.” Her paternal grandfather, John 
Pettit, one of the original settlers of Waterford and 
a member of the first board of village trustees, came 
from Chester, Conn., whence a few years later he 
brought his bride, Rebecca Waterhouse. | 

Their son, John, is said to have been the first child 
born in the new settlement. He became a cabinet 
maker. Following his father’s example, he sought a 
wife in Chester and married Sarah Parmelee Mitchell, 
who was his “ second cousin, once removed.” Of this 
ancestry and marriage was born the future woman 
missionary. The family comprised Mary Jane (dying 
in infancy), Eliza Ann, Mary Jane, Harriet Maria, 
John Mitchell, William Frederic and Sarah Frances, 
all of whom were born at Waterford except the last. — 
The mother was a member of the Waterford Presby- 
terian Church, and the two older daughters united at 
an early age. In 1832 the family moved to Sandy 
Hill, New York, where resided an uncle, General 
Micajah Pettit. While living there Harriet made a 
profession of her faith at the age of seventeen. Dur- 
ing residence in that village she became acquainted 
with Stephen Mattoon and the young woman who 
later became his wife, with both of whom she was 





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HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 197 


destined to be associated in Siam. ‘The first appear- 
ance of her name in the journal of Dr. House is a 
casual entry that Mrs. Mattoon had received (1851) 
a letter from her friend Harriet Pettit. After nine 
years the family returned to Waterford in 1841. 

Harriet’s elementary education was the best af- 
forded by the private school system of the period. In 
1840 she entered the Emma Willard Female Seminary 
at Troy, New York. ‘ There she studied for a year, 
and then entered upon what proved to be her life 
work of female education. Her first year of teaching 
was in a young ladies’ school in New York City. For 
two years she served as governess for a family in 
Charleston, South Carolina. It was while there that 
she wrote to her youngest sister a most remarkable 
letter of religious importunity. In the winter of 1843 
a great revival had aroused the little church at Water- 
ford under the pastor, Rev. Reuben Smith, in which 
sixty-nine were converted. Among these were her 
father and two brothers, all of whom united with the 
church. Having received news of this awakening, 
Harriet sent to her sister, the only member of the 
family not yet in the Church, a letter carefully printed 
so as to be legible to the girl of ten years. It was a 
letter with a purpose. It was an affectionate entreaty 
for the sister to become a Christian. Concisely but 
clearly she explained what it meant to be a Christian, 
and then gently and with fervour urged a prompt 
decision for Christ. That letter was not void of its 
purpose, and all these eighty years since it has been 
treasured by the recipient as a memento of a loving, 
consecrated sister. 

The Pettit family did not remain long in Water- 


198 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ford after their return. In 1844 they moved to New- 
ark, New Jersey, and there became identified with the 
Second Presbyterian Church, of which at the time the 
pastor was a relative, the Rev. Ebenezer Cheever, 
who had formerly been their pastor also at Water- 
ford. Thereupon, Harriet came to Newark and set 
up a small school for girls in her home. In 1848 she 
was called to be assistant in the female seminary at 
Steubenville, Ohio. In the fall of 1851 she returned 
to Newark and opened, under her own management, a 
“ Select School for Young Ladies,” which she contin- 
ued up to the time of her marriage. During these later 
years she was active in the work of the Second Church, 
serving as joint superintendent of the Sunday school. 
On Oct. 24, 1855, her father died, leaving Harriet 
alone with their mother and her youngest sister. 


MARRIAGE 


It was at this juncture of the family affairs, two 
days after the father’s death, that Harriet received an 
unexpected call from her friend of former years, Dr. 
S. R. House, then home on a furlough from Siam. 
Writing later to a friend she comments: 


de Le Belen 

“It is but two years this morning since my good hus- 
band called at 373 Broad Street, Newark, to see a lady 
on very particular business. Only two years,—and fif- 
teen months of that time I have been in the city of 
Bangkok. Does not this speak well for Samuel’s des- 
patch of business sometimes? (Then quoting a bit of 
doggerel which he had once written:) 


‘TI haven’t the slightest notion 
Of launching on the stormy ocean 
Where family cares and troubles rise 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 199 


Heaping their billows to the skies 
A wife’s complaint, the young one’s cries 
Wont suit me.’ 


“ How entirely we sometimes change our minds! On 
the morning of the 26th, the ‘batch’ who once thus sung 
had not the slightest, but the strongest notion—and 
launching forth soon followed.” 


Having changed his mind the suitor allowed little 
time to slip by till he had won the object of his heart’s 
desire. A month and a day after the engagement, on 
Nov. 27, 1855, the marriage occurred. 

The bridal couple sailed for Siam in the spring of 
1856, arriving at Bangkok in July. On the part of 
the natives connected with the mission the bride - 
was received with a quiet curiosity, for these 
people were slow to receive newcomers into their 
affections. But King Mongkut, having first given a 
private audience to Dr. House, requested particularly 
that the bride might come to the palace to receive his 
congratulations. Mrs. House describes the call: 


“A few weeks afterwards a note came from him in- 
viting the ladies who, as he expressed it, ‘had not yet 
been to pay their personal interview to H. M..,’ and say- 
ing he would send a boat for us. About 2 p.m., the boat 
came with one of the ladies of the king’s household and 
a train of servants; and Mrs. Morse and I went.... 
Passing through a gate in the wall of the palace we were 
conducted through paved streets on each side of which 
are the brick dwellings of the various inmates. As we 
passed along we attracted the attention of the residents 
who crowded about the doors, curious to see the foreign 
ladies. 

“At length we arrived at a large building on the 
portico of which were chairs, and here we were invited 


200 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


to sit to await summons into the royal presence... . 
After an hour or more a message came from H. M. 
announcing his readiness to receive us. We entered a 
door guarded by several female soldiers; and here stood 
the king to meet us; dressed in a mouse colored, fig- 
ured silk sacque, over a white garment—a large diamond 
on his breast, a number of very brilliant rings and a gold 
watch, and sandals on feet. He extended his right hand 
very graciously to us and led the way to a spacious hall, 
hung round with mirrors, where we were seated. 

“ He sent for his favorite wife whom he introduced 
as his queen consort, and afterwards sent for her two 
children; the eldest a boy of about four years, was 
loaded with chains of gold; the youngest a daughter. 
Both very handsome. His Majesty was exceedingly 
affable, speaking English so that with strict attention we 
could understand. He conversed on various subjects 
intelligently. Refreshments were served, during which 
H. M. left us. When he returned he presented to us 
each, as a memento of our visit, a very heavy gold ring 
of Siamese manufacture, set with five sapphires. After 
being shown through some of the apartments, at sun- 
down we took our leave.” 


A belated sequence of this royal welcome was an 
invitation to Mrs. House and Mrs. Jonathan Wilson 
(newly arrived) to dine with the queen and some of — 
her ladies in the palace the following year. 


AN INDUSTRIOUS WOMAN 
We catch glimpses of the indefatigable industry of 
this woman slightly from her few letters but chiefly 
from those of Dr. House. Within a month after 
landing, before the house was fairly settled, she re 
where the first opportunity presented: 


“My good wife has already begun her true missionary 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 201 


work, for she has a Bible class of nine of our young 
folks, whom she instructs Sabbath mornings through the 
English tongue which they have partially acquired.” 


Promptly she took up the important task of learning 
the language: 


“T love the Siamese language very much indeed. The 
first month I was here I took no lesson and I have lost 
two months since by sickness and absence, but I have 
read and nearly translated the gospel of Matthew; and 
I begin to make myself understood.” 


During the dry season for the first several years 
Mrs. House made tours with her husband. One of 
these was to Prabat, the scene of the “ footstep of 
Buddha,” where the doctor had experienced rough 
treatment on his previous visit; on this occasion, 
however, no attention was paid to the presence of 
foreigners. Mrs. House took pains to write vivid 
accounts of many of these tours for the home Sunday 
school ; these and parts of her letters found their way 
into the missionary magazines of the day and after- 
wards were incorporated as a part of the volume, 
Stam and Laos. 

In the summer of the second year we find her 
teaching an hour-and-a-half daily in the mission 
school and giving two hours daily to the study of the 
language beside the domestic cares. She had already 
taken under her maternal oversight the native girl 
Delia, and also accepted charge of Nancy, whom Mrs. 
Mattoon had raised; and while in some ways these 
wards were an assistance, yet their care and direction 
was a great responsibility. Comments upon her zeal 


202 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


appear frequently in the doctor’s letters, and ten 
years after her arrival he continues to mention her 
diligence: . 


“ Harriette is as industriously engaged as ever. She 
will teach three full hours a day, besides what she does 
for her girls at home, reading and translating with the 
Siamese teacher. Nor can she be persuaded to spare 
herself. Has just started under superintendance of 
Delia and Ooey, alternately, an infant sewing and 
singing class.” | 


Thus by assistance of the girls whom she had already 
taught she undertook to extend her reach, training 
these girls in teaching under her own direction. 
After she had fairly mastered the language she sought 
further to enlarge her influence by preparing tracts 
and translating pamphlets. She is credited with these 
productions: . 

Questions in Gospel History, 1864; Stand by the 
Truth, 1869 (these two in conjunction with Dr. 
House) ; Catechism in Bible Truth, 1870; several 
juvenile story books. 

Concerning the Catechism, Dr. House wrote to 
Mrs. House while she was in America (1871): “I 
take great satisfaction in the circulation of that little 
tract Bible Truth you toiled on so faithfully, and I 
like it better each day. Our whole school recite their 
‘verse a day’ from that now.” 


PRECARIOUS HEALTH 
While admiring her industry, Dr. House expressed 
foreboding very early, writing six months after her 
arrival: “H. is really very well now, but is far too 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 203 


industrious. I am curious to know the effect a Siam- 
ese sun will have on such habits of diligence as she 
has brought from the United States.” 

That the tropical rays were not to be ignored, even 
by consecrated diligence, early became manifested by 
a strange “ burning sensation in the top of the head,” 
from which Mrs. House began to suffer within a year 
and which continued, sometimes with alarming dis- 
comfort, throughout her residence in Siam. As the 
pain increased rather than abated after seven years 
in the tropics, her physician recommended a sojourn 
in her native climate in hopes of gaining permanent 
relief. Accordingly Dr. and Mrs. House left Bang- 
kok in February, 1864, and spent two full years in 
America. The change brought relief which at the 
time it was hoped would be permanent. 


BEGINNINGS OF FEMALE EDUCATION IN SIAM 


It is not possible to ascribe to Mrs. House the be- 
ginnings of education of women in Siam. Even apart 
from the efforts of the women of the other missions 
to teach the Chinese women, Mrs. Mattoon had at the 
outset of her career taken native girls into her home 
with a view to educating them. Later she succeeded 
in gathering a class of little girls in the Peguan vil- 
lage across the river from the capital. When Mrs. 
House came, in 1856, Mrs. Mattoon was conducting a 
class of six or seven married women whom she taught 
to read while at the same time giving religious in- 
struction. Shortly after the coming of Mrs. House, 
Mrs. Mattoon seems to have withdrawn from such 
work in her favour, as her own time was then largely 
occupied with her domestic duties. 


204 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Modern female education in Siam may be said to 
have begun when the newly crowned King Mongkut, 
in August, 1851, requested the ladies of the. several 
missions to come to the palace in turns for the pur- 
pose of instructing some of the royal ladies. This 
was five years before Mrs. House reached Siam. The 
intention of the king, as he expressed it, was to 
qualify the ladies of the palace to converse with him 
in English. The effect of this royal patronage of 
female education was not only to break the bondage 
of custom which held women in perpetual igno- 
rance but to quicken popular interest in the mission 
school. 

Though Mrs. House promptly enlisted in assisting 
her husband in the school for boys, her greatest sym- 
pathy was with the girls of Siam. From the first she 
sought to reach out toward them, making her first 
point of contact by a class in English Bible. As she 
came to perceive the age-long inheritance of ignorance 
that impoverished the successive generations of Siam-_ 
ese women she was kindled with a desire to share 
with them the heritage of Christian women. ‘This 
lack of education she pictures: 


“When we first went to Siam not one woman or little 
girl in ten could read, although all the boys are taught 
by the priests in the temples to read and write. One day — 
a very bright interesting little girl, twelve years old per- 
haps, came to our boat to see the strangers. When asked 
if she could read, she did not answer yes or no, but with 
surprise exclaimed, ‘ Why, I am a girl ’—as if we ought 
to have known better than to ask a girl such a question.” 


The chief obstacle to education was the notion that 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 205 


education had no value for them. Woman’s place 
was to serve and please man. So long as she could 
cook rice, take care of the children and do necessary 
work without knowing books, why learn? Perhaps 
Mrs. House did not have a vision of making educa- 
tion an established factor in the customs of Siam; that 
possibility was too vast and too remote to conceive 
under the circumstances. But she did have a clear 
vision that education was indispensable to the amelior- 
ation of womankind. 

Her first step was taken in 1858, concerning which 
the doctor wrote: “Daily now Harriette has four 
female pupils about her, and the first day they were 
present, she came to me looking so happy, saying: ‘ O, 
I have been in my element today—teaching girls 
again.” This step was of importance chiefly as the 
beginning of her definite work in female education. 
Otherwise it was. rather commonplace. These girls 
were just the girls whom the missionaries had taken 
into their homes primarily to influence for Christ. 
All the missionary families have done this and are 
doing so today. Mrs. House gathered them into a 
class in order that they might have more regular 
school training, and as other families came and other 
girls were taken into the homes the number in her 
class increased. This class was partly industrial, for 
besides instruction in reading the Bible and other ele- 
mentary subjects, the girls were taught to sew. With 
the aid of an American sewing-machine their skill was 
utilised to make garments for the boys of the board- 
ing school; showing their work could be of value. 
About this time Mrs. House also succeeded in win- 
ning the confidence of a group of older women whom 


206 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


she instructed in an informal manner in domestic 
economy. . | 

Along with indifference there was a more concrete 
obstacle to progress in education of girls—the eco- 
nomic factor. ‘Time spent in class was time lost from 
labour in the house or in the field; and this was a 
serious matter. While Mrs. House had demonstrated 
the economic value of domestic training for girls by 
the saving in expense for the boys’ school through 
their sewing, it remained for Mrs. S. G. McFarland, 
at Petchaburi, in 1865, to apply this fact in such a 
manner as to draw women into her classes. She of- 
fered prospective pupils employment at a wage equal 
to that they could earn elsewhere. So long as they 
brought in earnings their fathers, or husbands in some 
cases, were not particular how they worked; and if 
foreigners were foolish enough to pay them to learn, 
the returns were a little more certain, than in other 
markets. One of the conditions of the school was 
that each pupil would devote a part of the time to 
learning to read. The skill of hands which they ac- 
quired by training enabled them to earn their wage 
and still leave a good margin of time for this instruc- 
tion. The result was a demonstration that trained 
hands could do more and better work, and that trained 
minds made those hands more thrifty. Here was the 
answer to the economic objection to female education. © 

When Mrs. House returned from America, in 1866, 
she took up her work with women again. Reporting 
home, the doctor wrote: “ Harriette is greatly engaged 
in her labours of teaching etc., going out to the school 
room and calling to her at home the women about us 
of whom she has a class now morning and afternoon, 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 207 


learning to read.” ‘This is only a glimpse, but it 
shows that she returns with her purpose steady in 
mind. While Dr. House was on his ill-fated trip to 
Chiengmai Mrs. House assumed full charge of the 
boys’ school and boarding department, and at the 
same time continued her classes for women. Perhaps 
it should be explained that while the term women is 
most commonly used in the doctor’s references to her 
work, the word really refers to the young married 
women for the most part, girls whom we would class 
as of the high school ages or just above. 

At length Mrs. House introduced the plan which 
Mrs. McFarland had tested at Petchaburi, paying 
women for their work which in turn was disposed of 
to advantage, but on condition that part of their time 
should be devoted to general instruction in the rudi- 
ments of learning, always including the Bible. With 
this advance her work for women passed from the 
stage of voluntary classes to a recognised established 
school. Writing in 1868, Dr. House reported home: 


“ Harriette is greatly engaged in her new industrial 
school for women. A busy scene on our back verandah 
every morning,—eight sewers. ... Harriette’s class of 
women in her industrial school for women is a success 
and promises great good, though it keeps her busy in 
season and out of season.” 


Mrs. House was able to use in this work some of the 
older girls who had been under her motherly care for 
some years. When, in 1871, she spent a year in 
America, her industrial school was continued under 
the direction of Maa Kate and Maa Esther, who took 
full charge. 


208 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


FURLOUGHS FOR HEALTH 


The three years’ absence from, Siam proved to have 
only a temporary benefit for Mrs. House’s health. 
The burning sensation in her head soon set in anew. 
She worked under constant pain; at times her head 
was swathed in wet cloths to mitigate the pain so that 
she could discharge her duties. Work and suffering 
together were exhausting, and after another three 
years period she was forced to seek a respite. To this 
end, in 1869, she gladly accepted the invitation of the 
Burrows, of Canton, that family of good friends to 
missionaries, who offered a free passage in one of 
their ships and kind hospitality in their home. 

This voyage to China proved to be perilous and 
alarming reports of a foundered ship reached Dr. 
House at Bangkok. Fortunately the ine s encounter 
was not fatal. 


“When twenty-eight days out the ship sprang a leak, 
made eleven inches of water an hour, eight feet a day. 
Men kept constantly at pumps; had to lighten the ship 
by throwing over some one thousand sacks of rice, one- 
tenth the cargo, and undergird the ship with a large 
sail— thrumming’ they call it. Spoke a ship which’ 
promised to keep company and to come and help if at 
night a certain lantern signal was hoisted. Lost sight 
of her however. Were indeed in great peril. But a 
gracious Providence brought them in safety.” 


A visit of three months away from the tropics gave 
renewed vigour and again Mrs. House returned to 
Bangkok with buoyant hopes of a measure of com- | 
fort for her work. But as soon as the dry season had 
passed the pain renewed its malign attack. At this 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 209 


perspective of time the wonder is that she persisted in 
hope of being able even to remain, much less labour 
in the tropics. Her persistence is a silent testimony 
to her earnest desire to do something for the Siamese 
women. After another twelve month she was again 
compelled to seek relief. Desiring to see once more 
her mother, then eighty years of age, she sailed alone 
for America, arriving in the summer of 1871. 


APPEAL TO THE WOMEN OF AMERICA 


Return to the temperate climate promptly brought 
relief and restored her health. Her demonstrated 
success in the industrial school had enlarged her hopes 
and clarified her vision of the possibilities of female 
education; while the rapid modernisation of Siam 
under the young King Chulalongkorn quickened her 
sense of necessity to place that education upon a 
broader and more permanent foundation. Both suc- 
cess and the opportunity impelled her to lay the 
burden of responsibility upon the women of the 
Presbyterian Church in America. This year in 
America we find her accepting invitations to speak in 
Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Albany, Troy and 
other places, telling her story and pleading for the 
womanhood of Siam. 

Just here it is both interesting and amusing to look 
back to the attitude of mind towards women speaking 
in the Church. The doctor writes to his brother 
counseling concerning his wife’s deportment in this 
matter : 


“Keep her if possible out of the pulpit—where I 
understand the zeal of some returned missionary ladies 


210 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


carries them in these days of women’s movement in 
mission work.” 


This would almost be interpreted as a bit of jocular 
admonition to a brother’s responsibility, were it not 
that we find these cautions direct to the wife: 


“Don’t step out of your sphere into the pulpit. If you 
unsex yourself, I am not sure you will be welcome back 
as warmly. ...O don’t let anything tempt you to go 
beyond your proper sphere as a woman; you cannot 
count upon a blesssing there and you will certainly 
grieve many that you love.” 


Nor is the doctor quite as sanguine as his wife over 
this project for a general advance in work for women 
even in Siam where he knows the situation intimately : 


“I sympathise with you heartily in your wish to ac- 
complish much for Siam before our stay here... is 
over. And it may be that the privilege will be given you 
of working more for the women of the land. But there 
are great difficulties in the way of this and there will be 
great trials and disappointments awaiting you. I fear 
your distance from Siam lends ‘enchantment to the 
view, and makes you forget what the people are— 
heathen in heart and custom of life. You ought to know 
that not a few here are opposed to the principle of 
female industrial schools. ... It is a very serious ques- 
tion you propose with reference to bringing a young lady 
out with you to reside in your family.” 


THE “ TROY BRANCH ” INSTITUTES THE PROJECT 

Mrs. House’s plea for the women of Siam found a 
response very near home. It so happened that in the 
spring of 1872 Secretaries Irving and Ellinwood, of 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 211 


the Foreign Board, addressed a meeting of the Synod 
of Albany, held at Troy, New York. The Woman’s 
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions of the Synod 
of Albany met at the same place, and united with the 
Synod to hear the addresses. The result was the 
organisation of a branch of the Women’s Board to 
cover the Troy Presbytery, whence the name “ Troy 
Branch.” ‘The organising group not only undertook 
to establish auxiliaries in their respective churches 
but resolved as a Branch to assume as their first and 
special object a boarding school for girls in Bangkok; 
and to inaugurate this project they commissioned Mrs. 
House, who was known personally to many of the 
women of the new organisation. To begin the work 
the Branch agreed to provide three thousand dollars ; 
and for the next four years they raised some one thou- 
sand four hundred and forty dollars. So it happened 
that Mrs. House became the official head of the pro- 
jected boarding school for girls. 

The enterprise which was now committed to her 
was much larger in scope than the work she already 
had under way; and even with small beginnings there 
was need of an assistant to share the burden, lighten 
the responsibility and aid in council. While Mrs. 
House was in correspondence with several young 
women whose interests had been turned towards Siam 
by her addresses a young woman of her own church 
at Waterford, Arabella Anderson, offered herself. 


ARABELLA ANDERSON-NOYES 
Arabella Anderson was the daughter of James 
Mcl,. and Arabella Moreland Anderson, who emi- 
grated from Belfast about 1847. They settled at 


212 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Waterford, New York, and promptly identified them- 
selves with the Presbyterian Church. They brought 
an infant son with them; another son and three 
daughters were born to them in their new home. 
Arabella was the eldest daughter, having been born 
Nov. 26, 1848. After elementary instruction in the 
local school she spent a year in a nearby academy. 
At the age of twelve she united with the Church. 
Her desire to become a foreign missionary was largely 
the fruit of home influence. Both parents were de- 
voted to the cause of missions. Her father never 
forgot to intercede for the work at family prayers. 
Her mother had been quickened in zeal for the work 
in youth by hearing a missionary to Russia; and it 
was her hope that her first born son might become a 
missionary, though circumstances prevented this. 

In the summer of 1872 Mrs. S. R. House was at 
her old home in Waterford planning to return to Siam 
for the new enterprise which had been entrusted to 
her by the “ Troy Branch.” ‘The pastor of the local 
church, Rev. R. P. H. Vail, preached a missionary 
sermon making a strong appeal for a volunteer to 
accompany Mrs. House as a missionary-teacher. This | 
came to the heart of Miss Anderson as the Master’s 
call for enlistment in the work she had long contem- 
plated. After counsel with her mother she offered 
her services to Mrs. House and was accepted. ‘Two 
months later, in September, the two sailed for Siam, 
reaching Bangkok late in the autumn. It was two 
years before the new boarding school for girls could 
be housed. In the meantime Miss Anderson took 
charge of the younger children in the day school of 
the mission. 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 2138 


After the girls’ school was under way, by a happy 
inpiration Miss Anderson hit upon an idea that 
brought the new school to the attention of the young 
King Chulalongkorn. The sewing class was sewing 
patches to make a quilt cover. It occurred to her that 
a specimen of their product brought to the attention 
of the king might demonstrate to him the practical 
character of their school. Accordingly she had the 
girls make a quilt from pieces of silk she had brought 
from China, with the intention of presenting this to 
the king on his birthday. Arrangements having been 
made through the Foreign Office, Dr. and Mrs. 
House, Miss Anderson and Miss Grimstead (another 
assistant) were received by the king. After an ad- 
dress of congratulations they presented the silk quilt 
to him. His Majesty expressed his pleasure at the 
compliment, and his gratification at having such a 
specimen of the work being done by the girls of the 
school. Droll as this incident may seem now—the 
formal reception at royal court and the presentation, 
to such an august personage, of a patch-work quilt 
made by girls of a sewing class—yet the demonstra- 
tion made a favourable impression upon the progres- 
sive ruler and won his sympathetic interest in the 
educational work: for girls newly undertaken by the 
mission. 

After learning the language Miss Anderson trans- 
lated several of Dr. Richard Newton’s addresses for 
the young, under the title Bible Blessings. Mrs. 
House and Miss Anderson went to Canton in 1875 
for recuperation. There Miss Anderson met Rev. 
Henry V. Noyes, a missionary under the Presbyterian 
Board. The acquaintance led to an engagement, and 


214 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


the two were married at Bangkok, Jan. 29, 1876. 
Two years were spent in America in work for the 
Chinese on the Pacific Coast, and then the couple re- 
turned to China, where Mrs. Noyes co-operated with 
her husband, especially conducting Bible schools for 
women. ) 

After the death of her husband, in 1914, she con- 
tinued to labour in China in a non-official capacity 
until 1922, when she returned to America, having 
served in the foreign mission work fifty years. One 
son, Richard V. Noyes, died as he was about to enter 
upon a missionary career ; the other son, Rev..Wm. D. 
Noyes, was for some years a missionary. in China 
under the Presbyterian Board. A sister of Mrs. 
Noyes, Sarah Jean (1854-1902), graduated in 1875 
from the Women’s Medical College of New York 
and in 18/77 sailed for China as a medical missionary 
under the Presbyterian Board. Ill health compelled 
her to resign two years later. Afterwards she mar- 
ried Mr. Richard C. Brown and resided in England, 
where she rendered valuable services for the cause 
of temperance. 


BOARDING SCHOOL ESTABLISHED AT WANG LANG 


The first step necessary to establish the new board- 
ing school was to procure a suitable building. Space. 
at the mission compound did not permit of a new 
building with room for future expansion. It so hap- 
pened that the mission had already purchased a piece 
of land with the intention of opening a second sta- 
tion. A residence had been begun but remained: un- 
finished for lack of funds. It was decided to turn 
this property over to the school and complete the 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 215 


building with funds provided by the Troy Branch. 
The locality was known as Wang Lang, a name which 
attached itself to the school for several years. Con- 
cerning this site Dr. House wrote: 
hs 

“The location of the school is a fine one. It is cen- 
tral, healthy and breezy; on the west bank of the noble 
river Meinam, which rolls through the great city; oppo- 
site to, but a quarter of a mile above, the Royal Palace, 
where its buildings such as they are cannot but testify to 
prince, noble and peasant as they pass by in their boats 
of state or barges what Western Christian nations think 
of female education. They also testify to the generosity 
and friendship of the American church people.” 


As soon as the building could be made ready Dr. 
and Mrs. House and Miss Anderson moved to the 
new location. On May 13, 1874, this first boarding 
school for girls in Siam was opened with six boarders 
and one day pupil. The building, originally intended 
only for a residence, was none too commodious. The 
basement contained kitchen, dining room and ser- 
vants’ quarters; the first floor had a suite of three 
rooms for Dr. and Mrs. House and one common 
living room; on the second floor was one small sleep- 
ing room for Miss Anderson and two large rooms 
which served as school rooms by day and as dormi- 
tories for the girls by night. Within a year a second 
helper was added in the person of Miss Susie D. 
Grimstead. By the second year twenty girls had en- 
rolled, living in these two rooms, rather small quar- 
ters by American standards but ample according to 
native custom. 

In one regard Mrs. House was disappointed in her 


216 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


expectation. It had been her confident hope to at- 
tract to this school daughters of some of the nobles 
and princes. A.few of this class came at first but 
soon the school was left to the girls of the common 
class. ‘The value of an education was not yet as 
highly valued among the higher classes as among the 
lowly ; for the women of the upper grades not only 
had no need to read but no need to work; while on 
the other hand the practical nature of the training 
given in the school did not meet the requirements of 
their social position. In later years, however, there 
was a decided change, and with the growing popu- 
larity of education nearly half of the pupils in the 
school were from the noble families. 


LEAVING SIAM _ 


It was the lot of Mrs. House to do little more than 
to inaugurate the new school, for her health rendered 
a long period of service impossible. But in even 
initiating the movement she did far more than she 
realised at the time, for she was investing in the en- 
terprise an accumulation of experience and a wealth 
of influence among the women of Bangkok such as no 
one else possessed, and which gave the institution a 
capital from which it began to draw immediate re- 
turns. Such a school could not have been organised 
by a new leader, however skilled in educational mat- 
ters, without long years of cultivation of personal 
relations with the mothers and girls. One can see 
now that Mrs. House’s return to Siam for another 
trial of health had a higher wisdom than even she 
could perceive; for while it seemed a daring of Provi- 
dence, it was in fact the wisdom of the great Teacher 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 217 


for her to expend the final momentum of her per- 
sonal prestige and thereby buy up a decade of time or 
more at the expenditure of her last four years 
of effort. 

The return to Siam in 1872 found the climate less 
kindly to her. Then came a new development, an 
attack of asthma which lasted for nearly eight months, 
so debilitating her as to render it necessary for her to 
relinquish the cherished work into other hands. In 
March, 1876, after twenty years of faithful, zealous 
and labourious work for the Kingdom of God 
among the women of Siam, she bade farewell to 
her friends there and returned to America with her 
husband. 


“Need I tell you that I left Siam with a sad, sad 
heart? At the monthly concert this month my feelings 
overcame me so that I felt as if I could not attend an- 
other till I became more reconciled to the thought that I 
can never again labour among the heathen. I think 
many of the Siamese truly regretted our leaving. The 
dear school girls followed us weeping to the landing, and 
we could hear their sobs as long as we could see them 
waving goodbye. 

“ Had I not felt it a case of life and death, I eoaid: not 
have torn myself away. It was plain duty but it seemed 
to me a dark providence that I should so soon be obliged 
to leave this dear school, the result of so much labour 
and prayer and of so many trials.” 


AN ESTIMATE OF HER WORK 


Mrs. House was so modest in the estimate of her 
own work for women that she failed to appraise fully 
what she had done. No doubt the meagerness of 
results up to the time of her resignation and the 


218 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


smallness of the achievement in comparison with her 
hopes caused the whole to appear insignificant. None 
of her letters give expression to the feeling of ac- 
complishment but dwell largely upon the great need 
and the unappropriated opportunity. However, a 
careful review of the development of education for 
women in Siam gives to Mrs. House a very high 
place among all the consecrated women who con- 
tributed the labours of hand and head and heart to 
that object. Without detracting one iota from the 
praise that belongs to others, but rather reflecting light 
upon their measure of honour, it may be said that to 
Mrs. House belongs the credit for certain important 
steps which marked the development and contributed 
to the permanent establishment of female education 
in Siam. 

In the early attempts at educating girls in the homes 
of the missionaries the aim in view was the conver- 
sion of the girls, to which the education in reading 
was incidental. Without minimising the value of edu- 
cation as an agency for religion Mrs. House viewed 
education as an object greatly to be desired in itself 
with manifold advantages issuing from it, but es- 
pecially having an influence upon the whole social — 
status of womankind. A second factor utilised by 
her for the development of her object was domestic 
and manual training as a part of the broad policy of 
education. Previously the few girls in the homes of 
the missionaries had been trained in ways of work to 
make them more efficient servants for the earning of 
their keep, but there was no attempt to give instruc- 
tion of this character to others. Mrs. House included 
domestic training in the scope of education. More- 


HARRIET PETTIT HOUSE 219 


over, she showed herself ready to appropriate valu- 
able ideas wherever she found them, and when she 
saw that Mrs. McFarland later utilised this economic 
factor to draw girls into her school at Petchaburi, she 
readily adopted the same method. 

But if the efforts of several missionary women to 
teach small groups of girls may be likened to the 
foundations of female education in Siam, then the 
boarding school which Mrs. House established must 
be likened to the corner-stone of the structure which 
has since grown into a beautiful and impressive tem- 
ple of learning. Hitherto classes had been the volun- 
tary undertaking of individuals in their eagerness to 
help their sisters out of darkness; but in each case the 
undertaking was not a permanent project but subject 
to termination with the removal of the particular 
teacher. Mrs. House’s achievement at Wang Lang 
was the establishment of an institution with a support 
and a directorate that insured permanency. 

In the voluntary classes the girls were in contact 
with the teachers for a few hours at the most and 
then returned to native environment to which they 
were subject for the greater part of the time. It was 
like taking one step forward and then stepping back. 
The influence of the home and of the city largely 
obstructed the good impulses received by the girls 
while with their teachers. The advance feature of 
the Wang Lang school was that the girls were to 
remain under constant Christian influence, in frequent 
contact with the teachers and subject to the daily 
discipline of an ideal Christian home. While the girls 
were devoting their full mental energy to study, the 
Christian religion had the fairest chance to bear its 


220 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


fruit in ennobled character, free from the blighting 
influence of pagan customs and morals. 

As indicative of what this school meant for the 
future educational program in Siam it is worthy of 
note that twenty-five years after the establishment of 
the Wang Lang school, the entire female teaching 
force in the government public schools in Bangkok 
were graduates of this school, thirteen in number, all 
but one of whom were professing Christians. It is 
no wonder, then, that the Minister of Education in 


Siam, at a commencement of the school, said: 
4 The Siete formerly had a proverb which was in 
every man’s mouth: ‘Woman is a buffalo; only man is 
human.’ ‘Through the influence of your school and the 
teaching of the American Missionary women, we have 
thrown that old proverb away, and our own government 
is founding schools for the education of girls.” 


As a mark of honour to the founder this school was 
named “The Harriet House School for Girls,” a 
name which it retained until successful growth made 
it necessary to divide the school and seek new quar- 
ters; the higher grades of which are now known as 
“Wattana Wittaya Academy,” while the older name 
still clings to the old school in its old location. 


XII 
HOME AGAIN, AND “HOME AT LAST” 


HE living pageant, “’The Big Mountain and 
the Little Chisel,’ had not ended, but some of 
the actors had to retire. Dr. House, who had 

been in the leading role for twenty-nine years, and 
Mrs. House, who had been his loyal understudy for 
twenty, handed their lines to other willing players and 
took their seats on the dais of time to watch the 
Divine plot unfold. Repeated efforts on the part of 
Mrs. House to recuperate her health only confirmed 
the physician’s surmise that the immediate cause of 
her suffering was the tropical climate. There was no 
alternative of wisdom but to return to her native 
clime. So it came about that Dr. and Mrs. House 
resigned. 

Their leave-taking was almost like laying down life 
itself, for their hearts had become intimately en- 
twined with the lives of the Siamese people. In 
March, 1876, the two sailed for “home again.” But 
to return to America was not to abandon their zeal 
for Siam; they made themselves ambassadors at large 
to the Church in the United States in behalf of the 
Kingdom of Christ in that land. 


REARING TWO SIAMESE LADS 
Most notable and doubtless most valuable of their 
services for Siam after their retirement was the rear- 


221 


222 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 
\ 


ing and educating of two lads whom they had brought 
from that country, Boon Itt and Nai Kawn. These 
lads are still remembered by the people of Waterford 
who were associated with them in their earlier years 
in America. The story is told of the two boys having 
their first experience with snow. One autumn morn- 
ing, finding that a light snow had fallen during the 
night, the two went out into the back yard, dropped 
down on their knees and began to feel the snow; and 
then getting down on all fours touched it with their 
tongues again and again. Among Mrs. House’s let- 
ters was a copy of a letter which Kawn wrote to a 
boy friend in Siam, in which he labours to explain 
how the water of the river had become hard so that 
he could walk on it with skates. 

Boon Itt was the son of Maa Tuan, the matron of 
the girls’ boarding school under Mrs. House. Dr. 
and Mrs. House chose him to be the subject of a — 
Western education partly because he had shown him- 
self to be a bright pupil in the boys’ school, and partly 
because he was one of the few children of second 
generation Christian Siamese. After the completion 
of his elementary education at Waterford, Boon was 
sent to Williston Academy, Williams College, and 
Auburn Theological Seminary. This long course of 
education occupied seventeen years. In 1893 he re- | 
turned to Siam as a Christian missionary to his own 
people. His life and work, worthy of an extended 
account, will occupy a separate chapter. 

The other lad, known familiarly as Nai Kawn in 
America, was Kawn Amatyakul, born 1865, the son 
of a nobleman Pra Pre Chah; and the grandson of 
Kuhn Mote, one of the progressive nobles who early 


HOME AGAIN 223 


formed a lasting friendship with Dr. House because 
of their mutual interest in science. Before the boys’ 
boarding school had been fairly established, Kuhn 
Mote placed his son under the tutorship of Dr. House 
to learn English and chemistry. It was this son who, 
as Pra Pre Chah, learning that his former tutor was 
retiring to America, solicited Dr. House to take his 
son Nai Kawn along and supervise his education in 
Western science. To this Dr. House consented, with 
the understanding that the son of the nobleman was to 
be reared in a democratic fashion as a companion with 
the son of a plebeian, and that he would be subject to 
intensive religious training according to the Chris- 
tian faith. 

After his preparatory education, Kawn entered 
Lafayette College for a four years’ course in mining 
engineering, though not as a candidate for a degree. 
Finishing there in 1888, he returned to Siam early the 
next year. His life work was devoted to the educa- 
tional program of the government, his professorial 
labours being chiefly in chemistry and physics in 
various schools and colleges of the government. At 
length he became chief of the examination division 
of the department of education. He was given the 
title of Luang Vinich Vidyakarn in 1902; and some 
years later was elevated to a higher rank with the title 
Phya Vinich Vidyakarn. 

Kawn united with the Presbyterian Church of 
Waterford upon profession of faith in 1879. Al- 
though he gave evidence of sincerity in making this 
profession and in other ways manifested an earnest 
purpose to live according to the teaching of Jesus, yet 
it must be acknowledged that upon return to his native 


224 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


land he did not identify himself with the native 
church and eventually held himself altogether aloof 
from fellowship with the Christians. No doubt one 
cause for this course was the barrier of social rank. 
His education and culture led him to prefer his own 
class. On the other hand, it must be recorded that 
he never made open repudiation of his profession, at 
least in any formal manner, neither did he manifest 
any antipathy to the Christian faith. His death oc- 
curred April, 1922. 


ABUNDANT IN LABOURS TO THE END 


After her return to the United States, Mrs. House 
became the center of a strong influence in behalf of 
Siam among the women of the Church at home, es- 
pecially as an advocate for female education. In 
1878 she was elected president of the Woman’s Pres- 
byterian Board of Foreign Missions of the Synod of 
Albany and served five years in that capacity. When 
the several small synods within New York were 
united into the present Synod of New York, in 1883, 
Mrs. House was a member of the committee that 
planned for the consolidation of the several women’s 
societies into the Woman’s Presbyterian Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of New York Synod, and became the 
first president of the consolidated organisation. As 
a motto for the united society she proposed the ideal 
“Every Woman in Every Church Working for 
Jesus ”’—a motto that reads quite fresh to date. To 
Mrs. House is due the credit of originating the series’ 
of ‘“ Questions and Answers in Mission Fields,” be- 
ginning with a catechism on the work in Siam for 
children’s mission bands. This method of dissemi- 


HOME AGAIN 225 


nating missionary information may possibly be the 
germ from which has developed the current system 
of mission study. 

In the church at Waterford Mrs. House was ac- 
cepted as the natural leader in the foreign missionary 
society of the women. She so developed interest in 
the work that the society maintained a very high 
standard of giving and of activities for many years. 
She was particularly interested in cultivating an in- 
terest in missions among the children and it was for 
her own mission band that the series of questions and 
answers were originally devised. Mrs. House had the 
joyous satisfaction of seeing Boon Itt ready for work 
in Siam. But before the time came for his departure 
she was called upon to take leave of him for eternity. 
On July 12, 1893, she passed to her rich reward in 
Heaven. 

With return to America, Dr. House continued his 
activities in behalf of the Gospel at home and of 
missions abroad. He embraced frequent opportuni- 
ties to preach, and especially responded with pleas- 
ure to invitations for addresses on Siam. He had 
accumulated a large collection of curios from Siam, 
China and Japan, which he used with good effect 
to illustrate his talks and interest his hearers. ‘This 
collection he left to the people of Waterford, and 
it is in custody of the Presbyterian Church. In 
the home church he took an active part, serving 
for many years as trustee, and also as clerk and 
treasurer of the board of trustees. He was hon- 
oured by the community with election as President 
of the village, an office which he held at the time of 
his death. 


226 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


“ ALL THINGS RICHLY TO ENJOY” 

When the two missionaries returned from their 
long period of heavy labours in Siam with impaired 
health it was with the expectation that the estate 
which the doctor had received from his father would 
provide sufficient income for a comfortable living. 
The salary while on the field had been so small that 
instead of being able to save from that income, the 
doctor had to supplement it from his private purse. 
But with economy, he expected that his patrimony 
would be ample for the needs of himself and wife. 
Not long after his return, however, it developed that 
the investment of his funds was unsound, and he 
suddenly found his reserves swept away. The two 
were left largely dependent, though still having 
their home. : 

Without a word of complaint they accepted the 
situation as one of the inexplicable dispensations of 
God. The many years of sublime but real trust in the 
care of Providence which they had cultivated in the ~ 
mission field and which they had often proven to be 
an unfailing means of blessing, now stood them in 
good stead. Those who knew them intimately relate 
instances in which what seemed to be spontaneous 
gifts of friends and neighbours reached them at the 
moment when they knew not whence a supply for 
immediate needs was to come. In a letter to a friend © 
telling of the timely provision of the Lord for his 
needs, Dr. House wrote that his old friend Kuhn 
Mote, having learned of his straitened circumstances, 
had sent him a gift of five hundred dollars. If the 
record of those later years could be written it would 
be a continuous testimony to the simple reliance upon 


HOME AGAIN 227 


the goodness and mercy of God, and to the marvellous 
justification of the faith of this godly couple. 


THE JUBILEE YEAR 


When, in 1897, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign 
Missions celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the 
beginning of permanent work in Siam, the doctor was 
the only survivor of the group who met together in 
Bangkok half-a-century before. None of the work- 
ers in the field doubtless had greater rejoicing at that 
jubilee than Dr. House. The following letter of fe- 
licitation he wrote on that occasion to the daughter 
of his fellow missionary, herself born in Siam and 
from childhood knowing him as “ Uncle Samuel”; it 
was a delicate tribute to the memory of his com- 
panions in labours, 


“"WATERFORD, NEw York, March 18, 1897. 
“To Miss Mary L. Mattoon: 

“ My DEAR Mary: 

“You will excuse the familiarity of my address when 
you learn why my heart just now goes out to you with 
affectionate interest. You are the child, the Siam- 
born child of the honoured, now sainted mission- 
ary couple who with my unworthy self just fifty years 
ago, March 22, 1847, after eight months of weary voy- 
age, landed in Bangkok and founded the present pros- 
perous mission of the Presbyterian Board in the 
Kingdom of Siam. Yes, the coming Monday, the 22nd, 
will be the fiftieth birthday of that mission, and 1897 
is its jubilee year. 

“ How vivid are the memories of that never-to-be-for- 
gotten day of our arrival, our welcome from the old 
missionaries of the other Boards, our first impressions of 
our strange yet interesting surroundings; and of the 
busy week and month and years that followed; and of 


228 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


work for the Master, with our full share of the pe- 
culiar joys and sorrows, trials and disappointments of 
mission life! How all the mercies come thronging into 
my mind. 

“And what cause for gratitude that God has so hon- 
oured the humble beginning with such glorious results 
in these later days. ‘The little one has indeed become a 
thousand’; yes, thousands now of baptised converts from 
heathenism are rejoicing in Siam and Laos in the knowl- 
edge and the love of Christ who, had that mission not 
been begun and watched over and prayed over by those 
godly devoted parents of yours and their associate 
(would he had been a wiser and better man), would 
have lived and died without God and without hope, in 
the darkness of Buddhistic idolatry and atheism. 

“To God be all glory given! Well may a jubilee be 
kept by all who know of the contrast between that day 
in Siam and the present. What wonders God hath 
wrought. 

“ Sincerely yours, 
“SOR. Housk:” 


Perhaps it was the celebration of this jubilee in © 
Siam that reminded former pupils of the Bangkok 
boys’ school of how much they were indebted to Dr. 
House for the immeasurable difference between their 
Christian enlightenment and the paganism around 
them. At any rate in the following summer Dr. 
House received from a group of his former pupils a 
gift of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, accom- 
panied by this letter: 


“SumRAY, BANGKOK, June 15, 1898. 
“The Rev. S. R. House, M.D.: 
“Sir: We have learned that your old age coming to 
eighty-one on the 16th of October next. On the occasion 
we are glad to subscribe among your oriental scholars of 


HOME AGAIN 229 


Siam to offer you a small present, which we obtained for 
your birthday. 

“We herewith request you to accept this small sum 
for your birthday present for the recognition of your 
Siamese scholars, and we beg to thank you for the 
knowledgment which we obtained from you when you 
were with us in our lovely country. And we noted you 
were the foundation of our knowledgment, and we will 
place your name on the stone of our hearts as long as 
we live. 

“We pray God to bless you, to comfort and to help 
you in all circumstances; and we hope to meet you again 
in the Kingdom of our Father. 

“ We have the honour to remain, Sir, your affectionate 
scholars.” 

(Signed by twenty-eight former pupils.) 


But that birthday never arrived. Only a few days 
after the receipt of this affectionate token and grate- 
ful testimonial, Dr. House took leave forever from 
his friends of Siam and from his friends of all the 
world. On the thirteenth day of October, 1898, he 
reached Home At Last. 

His affection for Siam outlived his days; for he 
had provided a small bequest for the Harriet House 
school in memory of his wife. Dr. House and his 
wife lie buried in the Waterford Rural Cemetery. 


XIII 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 


in Asia.” Such was the characterisation of 
Boon Itt given by Dr. Arthur J. Brown, 
Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions, after a visit to the Far East. Only when one 
considers the high quality of the well-educated native 
leaders in the Christian church in Japan or China will 
this estimate suggest its full measure. Nor does this 
evaluation exceed the common esteem in which Boon 
Itt was held by those who knew him while in 
America. By all his fellow students and by his teach- 
ers he was regarded as a man of exceptionally fine 
personality, of high moral ideals, and of rare Chris- 
tian attainments. 
In physique he was of medium stature, well pro- 
portioned, lithe of limb and agile in action. He was 


i () NE of the most remarkable men I have met 


fond of athletics, and showed a preference for the. 


more active sports. He loved games for the sake of 
sport rather than for the winning chance. His 
features were distinctly Asiatic. Yet there was a total 
absence of that mysteriousness in countenance which 
we usually associate with the Oriental. Americans 
quickly lost sight of the difference of race, and re- 
ceived him as one of their own. His voice was low, 
mellow and gently modulated, imparting a feeling of 
confidence by its quiet yet positive strength. 


230 


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Rev. BOON TUAN BOON ITT 





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BOON TUAN BOON ITT 231 


The most casual acquaintance discovered in him a 
winsomeness of manners. Simple, courteous, modest, 
responsive, he had all the marks of a Christian gentle- 
man. He was friendly but free from effusiveness ; 
hospitable yet without aggressiveness in urging atten- 
tions. He had a warm sympathy but never bestowed 
the pity of superiority nor the flattery of patronage. 
His love of companions made him a leader among 
young men. In his nature the esthetic had its proper 
balance. He possessed a love of the beautiful both 
in art and in nature, and in this love he found a con- 
stant inspiration to purity and nobleness. The best 
in literature and in art and in music found a response 
in his heart. Without doubt, however, to those who 
knew Boon Itt best, it was the spiritual quality that 
gave richness to his character. He was deeply reli- 
gious; he had a religiousness of soul rather than of 
mind, free from the sentimental, the spectacular or the 
trivial. Faith with him was not a matter of creed 
but of simple, profound trust in a God whose good- 
ness he had proven. 


“THE FAITH THAT DWELT IN THY GRANDFATHER ” 


Boon Itt was one of the earliest of the second gen- 
eration Christians of Siam. His maternal grand- 
father was Kee-Eng Sinsay Quasien. ‘This name 
appears in various abbreviations and spellings in Dr. 
House’s journal, but here it is given in the form ap- 
proved by one of his grandsons, who explains that the 
first two syllables constitute the name, while the re- 
mainder is the title. It will not lessen the honour to 
correct several traditions that have attached them- 
selves to his story in America. Kee-Eng was not the 


232 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


first Protestant Christian in Siam, nor the first con- 
vert of the Presbyterian Mission; his wife did not 
make a profession of Christian faith; his daughter 
Maa Tuan was not the first Siamese woman to 
unite with the Christian church. His primacy was 
only that he was the first “native” to be received 
into the Presbyterian Church of Bangkok after its 
organisation. 

Kee-Eng was baptised Jan. 7, 1844, by Rev. 
Stephen Johnston, of the A. B. C. F. M., having been 
the Chinese tutor to Mr. Johnston for several years; 
but there had been other converts previously. When 
the A. B. C. F. M. abandoned Siam and turned their 
work over to the Presbyterians, Kee-Eng was the only. 
one of their converts still in Siam in good standing; 
and he was transferred to the Presbyterian Church. 
On this occasion Dr. House reported: 


“Kwa Kieng is a native of middle age (about forty- 
five), good education, was formerly Mr. Johnston’s 
teacher, of respectable appearance, amiable character and 
appears for five years back to have led a faithful and 
exemplary life as a disciple of Christ. He has a wife 
(a Cambodian woman) and three children—two sons | 
and a daughter [another son and daughter were born 
later ]—now living at Rapri, one hundred miles west of 
Bangkok. Though he speaks Siamese imperfectly, we 
can communicate tolerably well with him, and we feel 
that Providence may make him the instrument of great 
good to many of his countrymen. He would be well 
equipped in many respects for a native assistant, and we 
have confidence in him.” 


In his Journal at this time Dr. House states that 
Kee-Eng was a Hakien Chinaman from Amoy. The 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 233 


reference to Cambodia in connection with his wife 
must be taken to indicate only that she came from 
there. Her name was Maa Hey and, according to her 
son Kru Tien Soo, she was the daughter of a Chinese, 
born in Cambodia. Although, according to her son, 
Maa Hey never made a profession of the Christian 
faith ; yet she did manifest a sympathy with the work 
of the mission. All the children of the family were 
baptised at the request of the father. 

As early as 1848 Dr. House mentions that Kee-Eng 
conducted a school for Chinese boys at Ratburi, or 
Rapri, as he spells it. When the boys’ boarding school 
was established in Bangkok he was chosen as the 
teacher of Chinese. For this reason he removed his 
family to Bangkok and came to live in the compound. 
Besides teaching he conducted weekly worship for his 
fellow countrymen, served as interpreter for Dr. 
House while he taught the Bible class of Chinese, and 
still later had charge of a mission chapel for the 
Chinese. Kee-Eng died Nov. 23, 1858, a victim of 
the cholera. 


“ AND IN THY MOTHER TUAN ” 


Maa Tuan was the elder daughter of Kee-Eng. At 
the time the family moved to Bangkok she was about 
five years old, according to Dr. House. She early be- 
came a member of the girls’ class in the home of Mrs. 
Stephen Mattoon, and was intimately associated with 
the girls whom Mrs. Mattoon had adopted. After the 
father died the family returned to their former home 
at Bangpa near Ratburi, where they were separated 
from Christian influences except for an occasional 
visit of a missionary. Here Maa Tuan married Chin 


234 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


Boon Sooie. To this marriage three children were 
born, Boon Itt, Boon Yee, and Prasert, a daughter 
who died in infancy. Concerning Chin Boon Sooie 
little is to be found recorded, aside from what Dr. 
House states in the letter quoted below. His national- 
ity is there given as Siamo-Chinese, and this is con- 
firmed by his son, who also is the authority that his 
father never made a profession of Christian faith. 
Chin Boon Sooie died in 1873. 

Concerning Maa Tuan the first important mention 
by Dr. House was in a letter to Mrs. House in 1872, 
who was then in America: 


“ Among those present [i.e., at the communion ser- 
vice] were some of your old pupils: one, speaks of you 
with much affection, Tuan the eldest daughter of Sinsay 
and Maa Hey, her mother. Tuan is now making her 
first visit to Bangkok since she left our command. She 
evidently has made an efficient and intelligent woman; 
reads English quite well yet; has rather a superior hus- 
band, a kind of a headman (man of property at least) | 
at Bangpa—unfortunate in business of late but credit 
unimpaired. 

“Poor Tuan since her last babe was born has been 
running down and is poor and sallow just now—she 
always was short in stature. ... Had not Tuan mar- 
ried a well-to-do trader her knowledge of books, arith- 
metic and sewing might be utilised to the good of the 
cause. She might be hired to get up in her native 
village a day school.” 


In the following year, probably after the death of her 
husband, we find her moving with her children to 
Sumray, near Bangkok, where the mission school was 
located, in order that she might have educational ad- 
vantages for her children, for at that period the mis- 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 235 


sion school was the only means to a modern education. 
In November of 1873 she united with the Church 
upon profession of faith. 

When Mrs. House opened the girls’ boarding school 
at Wang Lang, Maa Tuan was engaged as matron 
and teacher. Concerning her work in this school Miss 
M. L. Cort writes in her book on Siam: 


“This school has had the advantage of the faithful 
and constant services of Maa Tuan who is an excep- 
tional Siamese woman and was educated and trained for 
her position by Mrs. House. ... She has been the chief 
native teacher and matron for the school ever since it 
began, and the interpreter between the new missionaries 
and the old pupils, as she understands English very well. 
It is through her influence that many of the pupils have 
been secured and retained. She is dignified and kind; 
and each year adds to her wisdom and usefulness.” 


Maa Tuan spent the summer of 1880 teaching women 
in the royal palace by request. For some years she 
conducted a private school at Wang Lang, and so far 
as records show she was the first Siamese woman to 
conduct such a school. 

While her son was in America, Maa Tuan wrote to 
Mrs. House that she often rose at midnight to pray 
that Boon might become a good Christian and become 
a preacher to his own people. When the news. came 
to her that her son had been converted and had united 
with the church in far away America, her cup was 
overrunning with joy. She died in 1899, 


THE BOY BOON ITT 


Boon Tuan Boon Itt was born February 15, 1865, 
in the village of Bangpa, which was a Chinese settle- 


236 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


ment near Ratburi. After his mother removed to 
Bangkok with her children, Boon Itt and his younger 
brother Boon Yee entered the mission school and 
there began their primary education. Only three 
years after that, Dr. and Mrs. House resigned. When 
they were about to return home they arranged to take 
Boon with them and undertook to have him educated 
in America. At the same time the retiring mission- 
aries agreed to supervise the education of another 
Siamese boy, Nai Kawn, at the request of his father. 

Rev. J. A. Eakin, D.D., in his sketch of Boon Itt, 
gives this touching picture of the night before his 
departure: 


“The warm clothing, so different from anything that 
he had been accustomed to wear, was all made and 
packed in his little box. He had taken leave of his 
teacher and the school. On the morrow he was to leave 
his native land. On that last night his mother visited 
him, and sitting together in their favorite place by the 
riverside, they talked long of the future. Years after- - 
ward, when he was a student of Theology, in a letter to 
his mother he referred to that night, and said that her 
farewell words of counsel had always remained in his 
mind, and had been a great help to him.” 


The home of Dr. and Mrs. House was to be in 
Waterford, New York, and thither they brought their 
young charges. Boon early became imbued with the ~ 
American idea of self-dependence. He sought to 
learn to do as American boys do. In vacation time 
he looked for jobs to earn money towards his own 
support. When Dr. and Mrs. House assumed the 
responsibility for his education, they supposed that 
their income would be sufficient to bear the expense ; 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 237 


but with the failure of their investments a serious 
problem confronted them. Fortunately, Boon won 
his way into the hearts of the people, so that the 
Presbyterian Sunday school of Waterford undertook 
to make an annual contribution of seventy-five dollars, 
and continued this amount until his full course was 
finished. Individuals also assisted privately. 


EDUCATION 


The barrier of language of course had first to be 
removed. For this reason his studies were begun 
with private teaching. In the course of her visits to 
missionary societies, Mrs. House made an address at 
North Granville, New York, and there told of the 
boys they had brought to America to educate, This 
address, as will be observed in a letter of Boon’s that 
follows later, prompted a generous offer on the part 
of Mr. Wallace C. Willcox, principal of the military 
academy at that place, to give free tuition to Boon Itt, 
provided friends would care for his needs. This offer 
was gladly accepted, and in January, 1880, Boon and 
Kawn entered the academy. 

In the fall, Mr. Willcox transferred his relations to 
the military school at Mohegan Lake, New York, and 
his personal interest in the two boys carried them with 
him, so that for that academic year Boon was at 
Mohegan. In the fall of 1881, he was sent to Willis- 
ton Seminary, Northampton, Massachusetts, to pre- 
pare for college. There he distinguished himself for 
brightness of mind and fondness of athletics, particu- 
larly swimming—in which art every normal boy of 
Bangkok is an adept from childhood. Graduating at 
Williston, in the fall of 1885 he matriculated at Wil- 


238 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


liams College. There he spent four years, pursuing 
the classical course, and iy with the degree 
A.B. in 1889. 

The college course finished, there came to him one 
of those severe tests of his consecration and high 
sense of duty that marked his life at intervals. Be- 
tween medicine and the ministry he hesitated, but 
only to weigh in his mind which of the two profes- 
sions would be the one in which he could render the 
greatest good to his native land. Of the need of 
medicine there could be no doubt; even a young man 
could perceive the advantage of modern medical 
science for a land where ignorance of the body and 
superstition were the allies to cause suffering, con- 
tagion and pestilence. He could well appreciate also 
the value of the gentle art of healing as a means of 
winning the people’s attention while others might 
preach the Gospel to them. It was no small tribute to 
the greater power of the ministry in his judgment, 
therefore, that he resolved to prepare himself. for © 
that profession because he deemed the Gospel itself 
the greatest need for his countrymen. 

Having decided for the ministry he entered the 
Theological Seminary at Auburn, New York. There 
his grace of meekness, coupled with sterling worth, 
won for him a high place in the esteem of both his 
fellow students and the faculty. He had no ambition ~ 
to be a popular leader, and yet in spite of his retiring 
disposition he was the center of a warm fellowship 
because of his high ideals. During the summer vaca- 
tion of 1890 he served a parish at Bad Axe, Mich- 
igan, and in the next summer was the acting pastor 
at Bergen, New York. He graduated from the semi- 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 239 


nary in May, 1892, and on the eleventh of the same 
month was ordained to the Gospel ministry by the 
Presbytery of Rochester. In that year also he ac- 
quired American citizenship. While awaiting the 
matter of appointment to the field, he took a post- 
graduate course at Auburn, at the same time supply- 
ing the Presbyterian Church at Manlius, N. Y. 


HIS SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT 


The spiritual development of Boon Itt, including 
both the obstacles surmounted and the high attain- 
ments, will not be rightly appreciated until one con- 
siders the environment of his early childhood. Maa 
Tuan left the mission compound at Bangkok upon 
the death of her father, and returned to Bangpa with 
the family. She was then about fifteen years old 
and had not yet taken a public stand for Christianity, 
although there is every evidence that the period of 
her Christian training at the mission more than 
counterbalanced the pagan influence of the years that 
immediately followed. None of the family were 
Christians, and the constraint of custom would in- 
volve them in religious practises in common with the 
neighbourhood. Then marrying an unbelieving hus- 
band, the young woman could not effectually exclude 
those influences from the life of her own children, 
even though her husband might have been tolerant of 
the Christian faith. Like children the world over, 
hers were susceptible to the subtle influences of the 
religion that prevailed in the village. So it happened 
that during the first eight years of his life, the most 
impressionable period of childhood, Boon observed 
the religious customs of Buddhism, the festivals, the 


240 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


parades, the birthday celebrations, the funerals, and at 
the same time would unconsciously absorb the ideas 
of this religious environment. It will not be surpris- 
ing, therefore, if we find later that some of these 
ideas had taken deep root in his mind. 

Upon entering the mission school he came under a 
more exclusively Christian atmosphere. Concerning 
his reaction to this condition, Dr. Eakin writes: 


“The religious side of his nature developed slowly. 
The seed sown by his mother’s teaching had not yet 
taken root in his heart. ... He was regular in attend- 
ance in Sunday school and church. He went to the mid- 
week meeting as the boys of the school were expected to 
do. His lessons were well learned because he delighted 
in study and he would not disappoint his mother; but 
his soul was still in the dark.” 


At once upon reaching Waterford, Boon enrolled 
in the Sunday school and continued faithful in at- 
tendance until he left for boarding school. On his 
return home during vacations he resumed his accus- 
tomed place in the village church with Dr. and Mrs. 
House. During this earlier period he united with the 
Presbyterian Church Dec. 7, 1879, under the pastor- 
ate of Rev. A. B. Riggs, D.D. The following letter, © 
written by Boon to his mother at that time, has re- 
cently come to light: 


“WATERFORD, Jan. 5, 1880. 
“DEAR MOTHER: 

“It is a long time before we get letters from each 
other. I hope you are getting along nicely in the school. 
I am well and happy. 

“TI have something to tell you. I think God has an- 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 241 


swered your prayers for my conversion. I have given 
my heart to Christ, and own Him to be my God and 
Redeemer forevermore. I have joined the Presbyterian 
Church. Pray for me to be obedient and faithful to 
what I have promised. At first I dreaded to join before 
so many people, but when I had done it I felt a great 
deal happier. When church was out some folks shook 
hands with me and said they were very glad to have me 
join. I hope I will see grandmother, uncles, aunts, my 
brother and all the folks become Christians; then if we 
do not meet each other here on earth we would meet in 
the other world.... 

“A gentleman by the name of Willcox has a military 
school at Granville, about sixty miles north of Water- 
ford, and the board and schooling is four hundred dollars 
a year. He made a great offer to Mrs. House to take me 
free, if she would provide my clothes and books and 
expenses in vacation from June to September. And now 
in about two days more Kawn and I are going up there. 

“The folks in Dr. House’s family say that they will 
miss us very much, and we are sorry to leave them. Is 
this not a wonderful thing that the Lord brought about 
for us to go to this school? It all came about in this 
way. Mrs. House went and talked to the ladies of 
Granville and told them about Siam, and told them about 
us. No other boys ever had such an offer as this. Then 
a few kind ladies of Waterford gave us sheets, pillow- 
cases, towels and other things that we will need. 

“Tt all came of the Lord, so blessed be His name for- 
ever. Give my love to all. 

“Your affectionate son, 
“ Boon Ir.” 


In spite of the devout expressions in this youthful 
letter, Boon privately intimated to friends that he had 
not altogether given up the religion of his native land. 
One who knew him well recalls that Boon said he still 
believed Buddhism in his heart and that he would 


24:2 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


return to it when he went back to Siam. Upon being 
asked why he then had made a profession of Chris- 
tianity he said it was because Dr. Houses’ life was 
“so terrible ”—by which he explained that the godly 
character of Dr. House overcame all his arguments 
against Christianity. He could not contemplate all 
that Dr. House was doing for him in the name of 
Christ and at the same time deny the Christian reli- 
gion. His love for the doctor impelled him to decane 
for Christ. 

Recalling now the influences of his early childhood, 
it will be evident that his private expression did not 
signify duplicity but rather indicated the presence of 
vague but unsolved problems. When a child who has 
been reared in a wholly Christian environment be- 
comes converted, that process is chiefly a spiritual 
change. But for one brought up in the midst of 
pagan influences to change his religion means to 
change his entire character, ethical principles and 
even his theory of existence. Somewhere between 
these two extremes was the condition of Boon at the 
time of his joining the Church. His conviction con- 
cerning the Christian religion, encouraged by the in- 
fluence of his dearest friends, enabled him to make a 
confession of faith. But his heart outran his head. 
In his mind there were still unexpressed but perplex-_ 
ing questions. 

The nature of one of these questions is shown by 
an incident quoted by Dr. Eakins: 


“At one time, in his sophomore year, if my memory 
serves me correctly, he went to call upon the minister 
who served as pastor to the students, and the minister 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 243 


asked him to tell of any special difficulties he found in 
the way of becoming a professor of religion. After a 
thoughtful pause Mr. Boon Itt said that his chief diffi- 
culty was that he could not see that there was a personal 
God. The minister thought that he was caviling, and he 
reproved him for trifling with the truth. From that time 
on the minister had lost his opportunity to do the young 
student any good in a spiritual way. Sometime after- 
ward, through the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit 
in his heart, he was brought to see that truth, to recog- 
nise the love of God in Christ, and to accept salvation 
through the Cross. It had been a long slow process, as 
it is usually with the Siamese, but it was complete. He 
was convinced beyond the possibility of a doubt, and he 
made a full surrender of himself to do his Master’s will.” 


Perhaps the incident referred to occurred dur- 
ing the period of religious awakening among the stu- 
dents of Williams College, which took place while 
Boon was there. The common spiritual invigoration 
reacted with unusual power upon the individual whose 
mind was seeking light. That revival served to 
quicken his spiritual life and enabled him to make 
safely the transition from the youthful stage of habit 
and training, across the frail bridge of doubt that 
spanned the chasm of unbelief. By it he entered into 
a conscious experience of grace and assumed a voli- 
tioned course of life directed by personal devotion to 
Jesus Christ. The seed of the Gospel planted by 
maternal teaching and nurtured by the affectionate 
training of foster parents now, under the warmth of 
the Spirit and the dew of holy emotions, flowered 
into a full-blown religious character of rare beauty 
and fragrance. How real that conversion was is indi- 
cated by the reply which Boon gave to a fellow- 


24:4 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


student in the seminary who, interested to know what 
might be the sense of sin for a man while still in 
paganism, inquired of him what his experience had 
been ; to which he replied, “ I did not know that I had 
sin until I became a Christian.” 


APPOINTMENT TO THE FIELD 


Having made ready for return to Siam, Boon Itt 
met another severe test of his consecration in the 
question of appointment by the Foreign Board. Un- 
fortunately the problem was made more difficult for 
him by the very kindly intentions of his friends in 
America who apparently did not recognise the funda- 
mental principle involved. As the work in foreign 
lands had developed it had become the policy of mis- 
sion Boards to magnify the native church, and to place 
upon it as rapidly as possible the increasing responsi- 
bility for managing its own affairs, as distinguished 
from the affairs of the missions. The development of 
a strong native church in each country necessitated 
that ordained natives should share, not the supposed 
advantages of foreign missionaries, but the actual 
conditions of their fellow native Christians. For 
this reason, along with others of a kindred nature, 
the Board had arrived at the policy not to commis- 
sion as a missionary any native, however well quali- 
fied. Provision was made that the mission in the 
field might employ such workers according to their 
judgment. 

While, therefore, the Board declined to issue a 
“ commission ” to Boon Itt they heartily recommended 
him to the mission in Siam for appointment on equal- 
ity with his fellow Siamese Christian workers. That 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 245 


the principle involved is wise finds testimony in the 
words of Boon Itt himself who, when he reached a 
position of leadership, said: “To make Siam com- 
pletely Christian must be ultimately the work of the 
Siamese Christian Church, self-supporting,  self- 
directing and responsible to God—not dependent 
always on foreign missions.” 


RETURN TO SIAM 


The matter of appointment having been adjusted, 
Boon Itt returned to his native land in the summer of 
1893. Upon return it was necessary for him first to 
qualify himself in his native language. Not only had 
it been seventeen years—the major part of his life— 
since he had withdrawn from the daily use of his 
mother tongue, but his training in that language had 
been arrested when he was a lad of eleven. His 
higher education had been in a foreign language so 
that his religious conceptions were framed in words 
that must find an equivalent in the Siamese. During 
this period of language study he was occupied in 
many ways in the work of the mission, assisting with 
the literary work of the mission press, accompanying 
others on mission tours, and temporarily having 
charge of stations while missionaries were on vaca- 
tions. On September 20, 1897, he married his cousin, 
Maa Kim Hock, a graduate of the Harriet House 
School. 

It was shortly after his engagement that a flattering 
offer came to him to turn aside from religious work 
and enter business. Dr. House, writing to a friend 
under date of Nov. 25, 1896, says: “A letter from 
Boon tells me of his having declined an engagement 


246 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


of five hundred dollars a month (he now has only five 
hundred dollars a year from the mission), as he pre- 
fers his present work, which he loves and enjoys and 
has been blessed in.” 

The proffer of so large a salary might well have 
been sufficient inducement to a young man to abandon 
the less lucrative business of preaching. But upon 
consulting his fiancée she replied: “ I think we would 
be far happier doing the Lord’s work on a little money 
than to leave it for so large a sum.” But that was 
not the only tempting offer that came to him. After 
Boon’s death the Minister of the Interior disclosed 
that he himself had offered to Boon Itt “a position 
which would have led to high titles of nobility from 
the King of Siam, to the governorship of a province 
and to a large increase in income.” 

Compared with these offers, a salary of five hun- 
dred dollars was indeed a pittance for a college grad- — 
uate, even with the extra allowances. The larger 
salary of eight hundred and fifty dollars which he was 
receiving at the time of his death was an economic in- 
justice compared with commercial salaries. But it 
needs only be observed that all missionaries suffered 
the same injustice. An American missionary in the 
same country at the same time was receiving only 
one thousand one hundred and thirty dollars, although | 
he had a family and had served more than twice as 
long as Boon Itt. Since then the scale of salaries has 
been raised, and graduated according to the length of 
service ; but it is still true that a missionary receives 
barely enough for a living. But the marvel of this 
comparison is not the disparity of pay but the readi- 
ness of Boon Itt to renounce such dazzling offers and 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 247 


to hold himself true to the work of preaching the 
Gospel to which he had devoted himself. 


PITSANULOKE 


Shortly after marriage the young couple were as- 
signed with W. B. Toy, M.D., and family to open a 
new field at Pitsanuloke, some two hundred and fifty 
miles up the Meinam River. While Dr. Toy was to 
establish a hospital, funds for which were to be pro- 
vided by the Board, Boon Itt was to open a school. 
Through the good offices of public officials he secured 
the temporary use of some government building. 

Concerning this enterprise Dr. Eakin writes 
vividly ; 


“He began work in a small way, but he did it thor- 
oughly. In a few months he had attracted attention of 
the government authorities. They began to send their 
sons to the school. ...It was a slow process of 
growth but it was indigenous from the start. In this 
respect it was typical of all Boon Itt’s work. He tried 
to work with the Siamese people from the inside out, 
instead of following the common method of applying 
something foreign largely on the outside. 

“It required rare self-sacrifice in Mr. Boon Itt to 
labour on, teaching the rudiments of learning in that 
little school when he felt that he was capable of doing 
a work that would loom larger in the public view... . 
But there was a subtler temptation in the opportunity 
to do a work that would make a greater show before 
the world. He had warm friends at home [America] 
who were rising in business and professional life. An 
appeal to them would have enabled him to make his 
school a more’ immediate and manifest success... . 
He felt the cost in his very soul, when he turned his 
back upon that temptation; but he :decided that the 


248 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


slow indigenous work was the only way to secure 
permanence. 

“The work has gone forward in Pitsanuloke since 
those days. A church has been organised there which 
promises well; but the present prosperity owes much to 
the patient digging and laying foundations out of sight, 
which was done by Mr. Boon Itt.” 


After a time the government had use for the build- 
ing and it became necessary to seek other quarters for 
the school. Boon Itt leased a new site of about ten 
acres on the west bank of the river adjacent to the 
barracks, at a nominal price. As the Board had no 
funds available for a building he personally secured 
subscriptions from local merchants and officials 
amounting to four thousand ticals (two thousand dol- 
lars), besides lumber and building materials. A plain 
but substantial two-story school building of teak 
wood was erected under his personal supervision and 
partly by the labour of his own hands. 

The enrollment of the first year was forty boys, of © 
whom twenty-six were boarders. The average at- 
tendance for that year was ninety-five per cent. In 
the competitive examinations later the boys of this 
school gained the highest standing over the boys of 
the government public school and the Royal Survey 
school. One of the notable features of his work was 
the influence he exerted over the young men person- 
ally. No doubt that influence in a measure was due 
to the manner of his religious teaching. He himself 
has described his method: 3 


“As I have men who study Christianity I have ‘to 
spend a good deal of time formulating what are the 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 249 


fundamental doctrines of Christianity. We can use 
phrases in the States and be understood. ... Here it 
is de novo. I use no text-book. I do not know of any. 
I endeavour to analyse as honestly as I know how my- 
self and use my experience as a guide—not as an 
infallible guide, but only as a working basis.” 


This plan which he adopted was essentially the 
apostolic method. In our emphasis on the inspiration 
of the letters written by the apostles we are likely to 
overlook the fact that they are discussing spiritual 
truths out of their own lives; their epistles are “ text 
books ” written out of experience under the guidance 
of the Holy Spirit. Boon Itt was following the same 
method so far as he could. 

In addition to being superintendent of the school, 
he regularly conducted the Sabbath preaching service, 
worked in the Sunday school, and made a tour of 
exploration as far north as the Lao border. His 
wife had charge’of a girls’ school which she had or- 
ganised. Pitsanuloke was formally organised and 
recognised as a regular station in 1899. 


TRANSFER TO BANGKOK 


In 1901, Boon Itt was given a six-months leave of 
absence for recuperation. He had planned to spend 
his furlough in Japan; but yielding to family interests 
he got no farther than his old home in Bangkok. Just 
before returning to his field, in January, 1902, the 
Bangkok Christian community presented an earnest 
petition to have Mr. Boon Itt remain in Bangkok and 
take charge of a new work which it was proposed 
to open. 

The demand for his services came about as a 


250 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


culmination of circumstances. The work at Sumray 
had become too large for the plot of land laid out 
nearly forty years before. A new compound had been 
procured in the city proper, and the mission Press 
had already been moved thither. A campus for a 
boys’ high school had also been secured in that local- 
ity and buildings were soon to be erected. On the 
part of a few there was a desire to establish a church 
near the school as a center for work among the stu- 
dents. This led to a movement among the Siamese 
Christians to have this church erected by the Siamese 
for the Siamese to the honour of Christ. A Christian 
nobleman of wealth and influence offered to give the 
major part of the cost, and the remainder was to be 
raised by the native Christians. This nobleman was 
Phra Montri, now Phya Sarasin. As he had a high 
admiration for Boon Itt and wished his help and 
leadership in the project, a conference was called at 
which it was unanimously decided to undertake the 
enterprise and to ask to have Boon Itt transferred © 
from Pitsanuloke to take charge of the work; and a 
committee consisting of Phra Montri, Kru Yuan, 
pastor of the First Church of Bangkok, and Boon Itt 
was appointed to secure a lot near the proposed high 
school and to plan for the new structure. 

Concerning this project and the peculiar fitness of 
Boon Itt for it, Dr. Arthur J. Brown, Secretary of © 
the Board of Foreign Missions, who at that time was 
making a visit to the Siam mission, gave a very vivid 
survey in his report to the Board. After describing 
the respective locations of the three churches in the 
capital city and the circumstantial limitation of their 
reach, he says: 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 251 


“Thus there is neither missionary nor church in 
Bangkok for the bulk of the population, for the intelli- 
gent, well-to-do classes who are becoming eagerly in- 
terested in foreign ideas, and for the thousands of 
bright young men who flock to the metropolis in Siam, 
as they do in England and America. In that main part 
of the city there are scores of young men and women 
who were educated at our boarding schools. Many of 
them are Christians. I met a big room full of them at 
a reception which they very kindly gave in my honour. 
They were as fine a looking company of young people 
as I have met anywhere on this tour. Properly led they 
might be a power for Christ. 

“But there is absolutely no place in all Bangkok 
where they can attend church unless they divide up by 
sexes and travel several miles in a boat to Sumray and 
Wang Lang. This some of them do, but their parents 
and friends do not. Every year our schools are send- 
ing out more of these young people, but we are not 
following them up, and they are left to drift... . For 
this great work a man and a church are needed at once. 
No other need in Siam is more urgent. The man 
should be able to speak the Siamese like a native. He 
should be conversant with the intricacies of Siamese 
customs and etiquette; and so understand the native 
mind that he can enter into sympathy with it and be 
able to mould it for God. 

“There is one man in Siam who meets all these con- 
ditions. I believe that he has ‘come into the kingdom 
for such a time as this.’ That man is Rev. Boon Boon 
Itt . . . one of the most remarkable men I have met in 
Asia. His station has been Pitsanuloke, where he has 
done a fine work in building up next to the largest 
boys’ boarding school in the mission. Another man can 
do the work at Pitsanuloke equally well, but no other 
man in Siam or out of it can reach the young men in 
Bangkok as he can. As the head of his ‘clan’ whose 
family home is in Bangkok, he is widely and favourably 
known in the capital. Young men like him and resort 


252 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


to him for advice whenever he visits the city. : .. We 
can use this man to better advantage for the cause of 
Christ. So I proposed to the missionaries that Mr. 
Boon Itt be transferred to Bangkok, and the proposal 
was unanimously and enthusiastically agreed to.” 


So it came about that Boon Itt was unexpectedly 
but with great reluctance persuaded to accept the call 
to Bangkok. In a letter to a friend in America he 
wrote: 


“Now there comes a call for me to come down tc 
Bangkok and take up the work here with young men 
and for young men. This now seems to be my work. 
I am drawn to it now. I was not before; I looked at 
it from a sheer sense of duty.. I want to put my best 
work in down here, for it is extremely important to 
build up homes if purity is ever to be indigenous. 
When I went up to Pitsanuloke I was in doubt about 
the school work, so I said to the Lord if. He wanted me 
to start a school there, would He give the money 
wherewith to build it. He owns all the riches of the . 
world and people’s hearts are in his hands; so I asked 
Him to influence the people there to give the money 
and the materials—and He did, and the school has 
been built. ae 

“Well, I learned one other lesson along with that, 
viz: that had I asked the Father to give me money for 
the work in His own way I would have been spared 
much unnecessary toil. I am certain that the Lord will - 
give me the money to carry on this new work out here. 
My plan in general is to hire a building and start a 
reading room, play room, prayer meeting room, where 
we can have classes for Bible studies.” 


As the possibilities unfolded themselves to his mind 
it was not solely the undertaking to build up a congre- 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 253 


gation that engaged his interests. He sketched plans 
for work in connection with the church which would 
make it a center of social activities for the cultivation 
of Christian ideals among the young men; and it was 
this phase of the work which appealed to him. He 
studied the needs both temporal and _ spiritual. 
Through his influence the young men organised an 
institution known as the Christian United Bank of 
Siam; this was the first banking house founded by 
the Siamese. It was organised after the manner of 
the savings banks and proved to be very helpful to the 
Christian community of Bangkok. He also persuaded 
a small group of Christian Siamese to organise a 
Steam Rice Milling Company on a Christian basis, no 
work to be done on the Sabbath and a fixed portion 
of the income to be devoted to Christian work. 

Although Boon Itt had made himself felt among 
the native Christians during the few years he had 
spent in Bangkok directly after return to Siam, he 
now came to be recognised and accepted as the leader 
of the Siamese Christian Church. He did not aim to 
be a leader; his intention was just to put himself 
behind the work and help wherever he could. But 
this very helpfulness caused the people to look up to 
him with profound respect. They had appreciation 
of his understanding of their needs, of his sympathy 
with their aspirations, and of his ability to look at 
things from their personal point of view. In a few 
months his house had become the headquarters for 
Siamese Christians on the east side of the river, and 
little gatherings of friends were of frequent occur- 
rence. This gave him a personal influence that he 
alone failed to perceive. 


254 - SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


But scarcely had Boon Itt laid his hands to this 
great task when within a year his labours came to a 
sudden end. He fell a victim to cholera. After 
telling of the sudden attack of the disease, Dr. Eakin 
recounts the most impressive closing scenes: 


“We were with him until late in Friday night, and 
left to return to the High School, telling them to call 
us if there should be any change. The weather had 
been hot and dry. No rain had fallen for about two 
months. All animate nature seemed to be suffering and 
longing for relief from the drought. 

“About midnight we were called. As we went to 
the house, we noticed that there was a change coming 
in the weather. The wind was rising in fitful gusts, 
and dark clouds were scudding across the sky. 

“We found that he had passed away without return- 
ing to consciousness. Soon after we entered the house, 
the monsoon broke in torrents of rain. ‘The house 
shook under the fierce attacks of the raging tempest. 
... The bereaved wife calmly gathered the friends to- — 
gether in the little sitting room, passed around the. 
hymn books among them and asked them all to sing. 
Through the long hours of that terrible storm, they 
sang those hymns of Christian faith and hope and com- 
fort. In the interval between these songs of the night, 
they talked of the future. One expressed concern about 
the finishing of the new church. (A part of his ebbing 
strength Boon had spent in explaining the details of 
the drawings he had made for the roof of the church.) . 
It would be difficult to find a contractor who would be 
willing to take up the work that had fallen from a dead 
hand, owing to a superstition that the building would 
be haunted. Then Kru Thien Pow, head teacher in the 
Boys’ High School and a most devoted friend of the 
fallen chief, broke down and wept aloud: ‘I am/»not 
thinking of the new church,’ he said, ‘some one will be 
found to complete that work. I am thinking of the 


BOON TUAN BOON ITT 255 


Kingdom of Christ in Siam. Who will take the vacant 
place in this service?’ ” 


The death of Boon Itt occurred May 8, 1903. Be- 
sides his widow, he left three children, Samuel Bun- 
toon, Eliza Brante and Phreida. 


AN APPRECIATION 


The death of Boon Itt caused inexpressible sorrow 
and dismay among all who knew him, both in Siam 
and America. It brought forth universal testimonies 
of esteem for the man; friends seemed to vie with 
each other in veneration of his memory. Almost 
spontaneously there arose the suggestion to erect as a 
memorial to him a building that would provide facili- 
ties for the social work among young men which he 
had inaugurated. Committees both in Siam and in 
the United States met with cordial response to the 
proposal. The Crown Prince esteemed it a pleasure 
to make the first contribution for Siam towards the 
proposed building, while members of the government 
gladly participated in the fund. The king of Siam, 
who was absent at the time, expressed his intention to 
assist when he learned of the project after his return. 

Prince Damrong, Minister of the Interior, when 
invited to contribute to the fund, replied: “I am glad 
to help in a memorial to that splendid man. You may 
not know that I offered him a position which would 
have led to high titles of nobility from the king of 
Siam, to the governorship of a large province and to 
a large increase of income. Yet he declined these 
high honours and financial benefits that he might con- 
tinue in the service of Jesus Christ. Boon Itt was a 


256 SAMUEL REYNOLDS HOUSE 


true Christian.” As a result of the movement, the 
“ Boon Itt Memorial Building ” now stands as a visi- 
ble testimonial to all Bangkok in behalf of the noble 
character of this Christian Siamese, and perpetuates 
the heart’s desire of this servant of Christ for the 
young men of Siam. 

Boon Itt gave only ten rapid but full years to the 
Gospel ministry for his countrymen, but he set in 
motion spiritual influences that will persist many 
times that brief decade. The marvel is that he laid 
the foundations so deep in the hearts of the people 
and built so lofty in their aspirations in so short a 
time. Yet the higher achievement was not what he © 
did but rather the Christian character which, by the 
grace of Jesus Christ, he developed in beautiful sym- 
metry and completeness. In his life the Spirit mani- 
festly bore its full fruition of “love, joy, peace, 
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance.” But the unique significance of his life 
lies neither in what he did nor what he was; rather 
it lies in the notable demonstration that the religion 
of Jesus Christ can take a man of any race or religion, 
completely transform his mind and heart, engraft in 
him the Christian culture, and yet leave him true to 
his own people. His life is a testimony that the 
Christian religion is a universal religion, for all races, 
for all lands and for all ages. 


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